Firesite Pyramids

Penny's Silver Birch Planting

Wildart Drawing Day

Willow weaving workshop - Weds 15th Feb

We took part in a brilliant Willow Weaving workshop run by Kent Wildlife Trust, in which the three of us were given the opportunity to create something of our own. As part of a team of about 17 participants we built several new features along the willow path area of the trail. 

A willow arch and wigwam were made by the rest of the team, whilst we constructed a wave-like structure which is reflective of the location's historical position as a pathway for droving cattle and trees to the coast 3 miles away (Herne Bay.) 

The finished wave structure

Living willow was planted to make these features from, meaning that they will continue to grow and change into living sculptures.

Penny and Jan curving and tying the willow to the supporting chestnut stakes.

Alongside our willow wave, Penny also constructed a spire-type structure from chestnut branches to represent the historic Canterbury Cathedral, a further reflection of this path's 3-mile distance from both the city and the coast.

The trail's artist Rob Turner also attended the workshop. Here he is helping to plant the chestnut branches for the cathedral sculpture.

Penny tying her chestnut spire together.

The wigwam and arch that we also created in the workshop - these features, as well as our coast/city ones, have become such prominent parts of the Wildart Trail and interestingly blend in and change with their surroundings through the seasons.

Tree Roots + Tree Ring

These two oak trees have a particularly prominent presence along the willow path area of the Wildart Trail and we were keen to create a piece which enhanced this.

The first, 'Tree Roots', was made by arranging chestnut branches on the ground, radiating outwards from the central tree like roots. 

The second, 'Tree Ring', used loose branch debris found across a lot of the ground near the other oak tree. A slight ring had already naturally formed and, wanting to again enhance not interrupt natural features, we decided to simply add to this arrangement to make a more prominent framing of the old oak.

WildArt Drawing Day

To end our residency on the Wildart Trail, we are holding a public Wildart Drawing Day workshop event - come and join in with drawing and art making in the woods !

Hollow Happening

Hollow Happening was a performative action series which was carried out as a playful way to interact with the snowy environment. We cleared a central hole of snow in a hollow for any wildlife living in the mossy bed. The snow and leaves were spontaneously scattered to leave a brilliant pattern. The transience of this intervention was especially important - a human presence entered a space, an action was performed, the space was changed, the snow melted and so were any traces of this presence.

Suspended Ball

We were very attracted to this area of the trail and it had many potential spaces to install artworks, yet it was a difficult task to find the right material to work with. We used honeysuckle to create a wild ball formation that was tied together and subtly suspended from a tree to the right of the path. 

Leaf Frame

These frames are located in several places along the Wildart Trail to create points of focus which invite visitors to look more carefully at particular characteristics of Blean's woodland. This particular frame is going to house a wooden xylophone which showcases the various sounds of the area's different types of wood.

Throughout our time working on the trail, we decided to display various features in the frame until the xylophone is ready to be installed. As shown here, our first piece in this location was a series of leaves threaded together with pine needles and suspended at different heights - they naturally blended in with the backdrop of trees, blew gently in the wind and were left to nature to change.

TreeSpace Drawings

For this very quick piece, we arranged sticks between the trunks of trees to create a three-dimensional type of drawing, joining branches that were not otherwise connected. We were interested to think about the very varied tree formations found throughout the Blean, and this was a small experiment which interacted with the space between them.

Birch Peel

Chestnut Clusters

The second set of work we made was this pair of Chestnut sculptures, constructed using the branches cut down to clear the view around the nearby 'viewing log'. Starting with a tripod-type structure bound together using natural plant ties, we watched it evolve as we threaded more and more branches together to create an intertwining cluster. This impulsive action led to interesting elements of balance and movement coming into play, becoming more of a happening than a fixed sculpture.

Trying to use as much of the material gathered as possible, we also experimented with processes of stacking. The cut ends of the twigs in amongst this formation were reflective of larger scale log piles found around the Wildart Trail.

Viewing Log

We developed 'Viewing Log' after sitting on it and contemplating the area, whose view seemed to be somewhat interrupted by the surrounding Chestnut trees. We particularly wanted to highlight the view towards the iconic 'Raptor' piece of the Wildart Trail. So several of the Chestnut trees were cleared, providing us with material for other artworks as well as an improved vista.

The snowy Viewing Log...complete with patches cleared especially for perched bottoms..

A Cold First Week

It was an extremely cold week working out in the snow, yet rather fulfilling watching our creations take shape and change with the weather. The limits the snow imposed on the materials and type of artwork we could make meant that we worked more intuitively, interacting with the woods differently and finding ways to interpret the surroundings. The conditions in fact unleashed new possibilities, we were able to use the snow itself as a material for making. 

There was a magic to the woods when the snow came, everything was suddenly transformed into a place of extreme wonderment. Piles and clusters of logs and plants poking through the snow became distinct features and sculptural forms themselves.

Deposit Rings with Snow - Sat. 4th Feb 2012

The first artwork, with a dusting of snow...

Deposit Rings - Thurs. 2nd Feb, 2012

Our first artwork of the project. Despite the extremely cold weather, we were able to make a start by creating this simple earthwork using the wood and bracken deposited on the ground beneath a silver birch tree. This is located near the end of the trail in a fairly open and disused area of land which we particularly hope to develop; it proved to be an eye-catching piece as you approach this corner of the path from either direction. All the material used to produce this installation was taken from the area in which it was displayed, a concept we want to maintain throughout the project in order to underline the site-specific nature of our interactions with the woodland.

Accompanying the main ring piece, is a smaller ring around the base of the silver birch, which was created to accentuate the  placement of a sculptural log in relation to the tree. This feature moves the viewer's eye across the ground and up the tree, allowing them to pause and admire what may otherwise be an overlooked piece of nature.                                                 

<  Louisa and Jan making the first land art installation of the project. It will be interesting to observe how it changes throughout and beyond our time in Blean, how it is affected by the actions of both man and nature...we expect it to deteriorate quite rapidly, especially with all the extreme weather predicted throughout February...