Goodbye Balfour Street

As part of the 'Place Space & Identity' programme last year, I was commissioned to produce my project 'Inside Out'. Which basically involved me creating 15 stitched and mixed media panels that were exhibited on the external walls of houses awaiting demolition in the Wellington Road area of Hanley. The panels created a journey around the homes and there was a map to follow. The first two images above are from that and above those is the same area now as the bulldozers have moved in and are stripping the buildings back. The interiors are just amazing, it's a poignant scene and yet there is something very exciting for me in the process. I am offered a glimpse of something private and hidden, it becomes like a whole other world that is being revealed, layers and layers of history. When it's completely gone and flattened - that's the sad bit for me.

Gone Public

Just before the Easter break I finalised the sale of two panels(pictured below) to The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery for their public collection.
I am so pleased that my work has gone into this collection, it feels like I've left a legacy for my children and their children to see in years to come. My practice is based in and on Stoke-on-Trent so to be represented in the local gallery like this is an immense privelege for me.

Existing Clearance Area 2006
This piece is 60x80cms(photo is a detail shot) and was one of the first ones I created within my current practice. It looks at the semi-demolished terraces off Lichfield Street, Hanley, where the back extensions had already been pulled down.

Moving In-Moving Out 2008
This is 60x60cms and is my most recent piece which includes some of my scaffolding and new build photos(as print) This new influence reflects the way that the new builds are fast moving in across our views and creating this juxtaposition of old and new. The way that the 'Redrow' flag doninates the sklyine and the (unintentional) likeness of the scaffolding to the spitfire, seem to give the painting a weird kind of wartime feel to it.

Tired Eyes

This is what I really want to be doing today!

BUT instead I am still writing my research report, it's not so much the writing it as the trawling through pages and pages of 'my pictures' to find the right images and then spending hours editing them and messing with the layers and stuff.

My eyes are really tired and my head hurts. We've recently had a new flat screen monitor and it may just be me but it seems to put my eyes under a lot more strain working on it. At first I had to wear sunglasses because I couldn't cope with the brightness but I'm getting used to it now!

Above is one of my terraced panels on 30x30cm stretched canvas. It's heat transfer with ink, acrylic and machine stitch.

Parents evening tonight, more report writing tomorrow then a weekend finishing off Easter Bonnets for the parade next week!

Too cold for walking

Today it is really cold and blowing a gale so it was straight home after the school run and I'm snugged up inside working on my most recent research project. Last year I received an arts development grant from the LOVELY people in the arts development team at the city council and I am just bringing it to a close now and writing the final report.

It hasn't worked out as I had initially planned but I have learnt a lot through the process so that's good. It basically is an exploration of the possibilities for permanent public art in a new build area of Hanley in a community where I have based a number of other projects. I am putting together a report to send to stakeholders with my ideas, perceptions, experiences and I hope it just sows a seed for the inclusion of art when it all begins. Initially I was planning to produce more of a feasibility study for a specific project but negotiations are nowhere near that kind of stage with the developers and the regeneration agencies so it kind of evolved into this instead.

Today I have been 'photo shop'ing images together to demonstrate my ideas - not my greatest strength by any stretch of the imagination but I've done my best. Can't share them on here yet but the photos above are a few of the original photos I've been mashing together!

The walk of the day.

Walking and photographing are fundamental to my artistic process and I very often drop the children at school and then go wandering around Hanley taking pictures. I don't have a good camera. Just a little digital but I'm not a photographer so it just serves it's purpose. My practice is about recording what I see around me and the changes that are taking place through regeneration. Therefore walking around the same area repeatedly over time helps to really take in those changes and I never fail to see something new in these walks. Although terraces are very much a part of me and my practice, the tower blocks in Hanley, at the top of Bucknall New Road are becoming of significance for future work too.

Here are a few of today's snapshots.

Introduction

Well here we are - a blog! I have become so addicted to reading other people's random life stories that I thought It'd be a great place to to put my daily ponderings and work in progress. If you're stopping by to look please do leave a comment or a greeting it'd be great to know you've visited.
If you haven't arrived here via my website already you can read more about my practice and projects i have been involved in at www.Rachel-Grant.com