Band in the Ice

 There was some strong wind shortly after we floated our band so good to see that it is fine. However it is ice bound on a cold morning. The inspiration of the band is the scratch  bands that troops of all the armies in World War 1 formed near the Front to alleviate boredom and despair. They often made instruments from what came to hand.  They sometimes  dressed  up in clownish costumes and performances included drag acts. ....This is one of the installations in our sculpture trail at Stourhead , the National Trust garden in Wiltshire commemorating World War 1. Work in progress as we need to make some adjustments and then the band will be floated out in the middle of this stretch of water.

Floating band at Stourhead

We have floated our band at Stourhead the National Trust Garden in Wiltshire as part of our sculpture trail "Stourhead will never forget" commemorating the effect of World War 1 on the community. Concerts were organized here by Adela, Lady Hoare, chatelaine of the estate, to entertain convalescent troops from the nearby hospital at Mere.The soldiers were allowed to relax in the gardens and to boat on the lake. We also had in mind the bands that were created in all the armies near the Front. They often used bits and pieces that  came to hand   Below are convalescent troops on the lake at Stourhead during World War 1.

                            Below a French poilu plays a scratch instrument in World War 1

 
                                                       Below  a German concert party

                                                        Below a German band

                                              Below setting up and launching the band

Three Ways Community Special School Bath Project

We are delighted to have been asked to submit ideas for artwork at Three Ways Community Special School in Bath which is a Specialist School for Physical and Sensory and a School of Creativity. https://www.threeways.co.uk  We were given a tour and we were inspired by the state of the art buildings and facilities, the dedication of the staff and the charm of the pupils we met. Some were making Christmas wreaths to sell in the Bath Christmas Fare. Last year they made £800.  Creativity is important at Three Ways and they have a taste for the wacky as shown by the teapot above. Below is some artwork by pupils and a general view of the grounds. We have designs on the long fence - perhaps a multi headed creature which can be added to in future years by succeeding generations.  An exciting project.

                                       
                                              Below some artwork made with pasta twirls

Golden train for Stourhead

We are about to put in our two last installations at Stourhead , the National Trust property in Wiltshire as part of the sculpture trail "Stourhead will never forget" to commemorate the effect of World War 1 on the community. We are creating a nursery scene to commemorate the life of Harry Hoare who was brought up at Stourhead and was  the heir to the estate. He was killed in November 2017 in Palestine. The pieces in the nursery will have intimations of that sad end. This is the golden train that  will be part of the installation. Harry Hoare died after being wounded trying  to rescue horses at Mughar Ridge in Palestine.

Scraptors collages for sale

These are  some collages we are selling through the  Litterarti online shop in Bristol which is selling range of  items made from recycled materials - brooches, earrings and finger puppets. The  blue and white china below came mainly from the mud at Wapping in London at low tide. Also we  throw hardly anything away.
       

Our band about to float at Stourhead

Next week we plan  to float our band at Stourhead the National Trust estate in Wiltshire as one of the installations in our sculpture trail "Stourhead will never forget" commemorating the effect of World War 1 on the community

The band progresses for Stourhead

We are working on our band for the sculpture trail at Stourhead the National Trust garden in Wiltshire. The trail "Stourhead will never forget" commemorates the effect of World War 1 on the community. The band  will stand on a raft in an arm of the big lake. At the moment the site  is being drained to enable the clearing of silt.The band will commemorate the concerts given at Stourhead to entertain convalescent troops. We also have in mind the bands formed by soldiers from all sides near the front. Below is an image of a German band near Noyon in France. Noyon, only 60 miles north of Paris, was occupied by the Germans for most of that war. The performances of all armies often had men in drag and scratch instruments as in this image. We are also working on another and final installation which will commemorate Harry Hoare, heir to the estate, killed in Palestine in November 1917. The trail will remain in place until November 2017. We have chosen a nursery theme to commemorate him.

Our Last installations for Stourhead

Here is a pic of the Scraptors Scratch Band in progress ,which we intend to install very soon at Stourhead . It is our penultimate installation ...more news soon .

Band on the move

 Our band on the move. We loaded it on to a trailer to move the players from Anthony's house to Paul and Rachel's. The band will be on a floating  raft at Stourhead the National Trust property n Wiltshire to add to our installations already in place. This is a sculpture trail  "Stourhead will never forget" that commemorates the effect of World War 1 on the community. The band commemorates the concerts given there to entertain wounded troops and also the bands that were formed by troops from all sides behind the lines. They often fashioned instruments from what came to hand.....Work  in progress. We were given some organ pipes from a  church that was replacing an old one and we will use them for one of the instruments. The bottom picture shows Paul's drawing of the concept.See page above for more about the trail already in situ.

Harry Hoare in Memoriam workshop at Stourhead

We  had a workshop, dodging heavy showers,  at Stourhead to design our last installation for the sculpture trail that commemorates the effect of World War 1 on the community. This will be in memory of Harry Hoare the 29 year old heir to the estate who was killed in action in Palestine in 1917. We will be making  a group of carousels to evoke his childhood at Stourhead. The carousels will have hints of the devastating war  that was  to take his life. For our models we used bicycle wheels. For the actual installation we will use gyratoy  washing lines.

Nursery and Armageddon

Next week July 28 we will be hosting an all day drop in workshop at Stourhead the National Trust property in Wiltshire. The workshop will create toys which will serve as models for the fifth and last installation in our sculpture trail "Stourhead will never forget." which commemorates the effect of World War 1 on the community. This installation will commemorate Henry Hoare, the 29 year old heir to Stourhead, who was killed in 1917 in Palestine. He was trying to rescue horses under fire. His parents received the news of his death on Christmas Eve. The nursery will commemorate his happy childhood but there will be echoes of the war that engulfed Europe and the local community. We also have in mind the trench art in which soldiers on all sides made artifacts including toys from odds and ends. A brochure detailing the trail will be available at the visitors' centre at Stourhead.  You can see more a bout the trail on the page above.

A cat may sit on a dragon in the Liverpool Biennale 2016

Anthony went up to Liverpool to see the Biennale. The cat was in a shop - not part of the Biennale.  Below a sculpture by Ramin Haerizadeh in the Cains Brewery one of the venues for art round the city - perhaps the most successful one. The city has certainly perked up since Anthony was there for  a while in the 70's.

                      Below one of the sculptures by Sahej Rahal in the Cains Brewery.

                                                  Below a graffiti on  a street wall.

Floating band work in progress

Work in progress for our band which will stand on a floating raft at Stourhead the National Trust property in Wiltshire as part of a   sculpture trail to commemorate the effect of World War 1 on the community. The band will commemorate the concerts held at Stourhead to entertain wounded troops and also the scratch bands formed  by troops on all sides near the front often making instruments from whatever came to hand.

Wolf head

We have  placed this Wolf's Head  in  place  for a new commission.

Floating band for Stourhead

Our next installation at Stourhead, the National Trust property in Wiltshire, is  to be added this summer  to our sculpture trail "Stourhead will never forget. " The trail  commemorates the effect of World War 1 on the local community. The next installation will be a band floating on one of the smaller lakes. Lady Hoare allowed convalescent troops from nearby Mere to go boating at Stourhead and she laid on concerts. Above the concept. Below is a photo of some of those soldiers relaxing at Stourhead during World War 1.

We had a workshop at Stourhead (see below) to make instruments for the band. The soldiers from all the armies made them from whatever came to hand;we are following that tradition. We also worked on creating a musician. The  last image in this post shows a French poilu with a instrument made from odds and ends.

Guiding the guides at Stourhead

Scraptor Anthony gave a guided walk at Stourhead for the guides at the National Trust property taking them round the Scraptors' sculpture trail   "Stourhead will never forget " commemorating the effect of World War 1 on the community.  Above is Ebenezer Stone's Bike. He was a stable lad who made himself a bike before the War but lost both legs in the conflict. Out of the shot are two giant crutches, one morphing into a gun. Below is the Camel Train - a train containing camels not a train of camels. This commemorates the involvement of local men in the Middle East with the Dorset Yeomanry.Camels in large numbers were transported by train.