Art is nothing compared to...

Yes, while I ran a boring art workshop last week my crazy (should be locked up) friends ran a 'geology and music' one. It could only happen in Cornwall. (Couldn't it?)

Been to Bodmin

Another couple of days running around like an idiot... Yesterday I was wiped out by 30 primary school children, who their class teacher describes as being "very hyperactive". They neglected to tell me that before I agreed to spend the day with them. They also decided to tell me at 3pm the day before that they were "doing Spain" and could I do something with a Spanish theme (all to be whipped up by 9am the next morning you understand). Of course my brain atrophied in an instant. What do you do with a bunch of 7 - 8 year olds that could be termed remotely Spanish? Picasso: no. Miro: no. Dali: possibly. Goya: definitely not. Then I had a brain wave: Gaudi. I printed off a load of pictures of his Barcelona buildings, told them to design their own organic house inspired by nature. Then of course we designed a tile for the house that was, wait for it...a plaster relief! Nothing like adapting something you've done enough times before to a new theme. Trouble is it gets boring after a while...for me at any rate, they loved it.

Today was a reccie to a venue that we'll be using for some art classes in the autumn. These will be for the Cornish Hedge Research and Education Group (CHREG) - all art to be inspired by the Cornish hedge. Sounds crazy, but offers lots of possibilities - flora, fauna, geology... Anyway, it meant a lovely drive up to the wilds of Bodmin Moor to the Stone Academy (pictures below), for a cup of coffee and a wander round the quintessentially Cornish grounds.

A Barn at the Stone Academy where we'll be running workshops this autumn, with members of CHREG doing a good impression of doing some work!

View of the grounds with one of them there Cornish hedges in the middle distance.

After that it was a mad dash back to Falmouth for another art club. I feel like I could sleep for a week now, but what I need to do is have a look at plan B for the August exhibition. With £450 to find just for hire of the venue and insurance, it's beginning to feel a bit of a nightmare - well, I've been waking up in the middle of the night thinking about it anyway. Not good. Doing, not thinking, that's what I should be doing...

Workshop at Higher Trevaster Farm

Well, my exhibition on the King Harry Ferry is over and Alessandra Ausenda's has gone up in its place, but today saw the real end of the project for me. I was lucky enough to run a workshop for 7 - 8 year olds in the most idyllic surroundings you can imagine. To get to Higher Trevaster Farm you wend your way down a long, long winding track bordered on both sides by hedgerows full of gorgeous summer flowers. At the end of the track the view opens out across the creek, then you notice the beautifully converted barn with a picturesque cottage garden full of foxgloves and delphiniums. At that point I realised the farm is the end of the road and this is where I'd be spending the day! Unusually it was gloriously sunny - all day!!! The picture above shows where the children and I made plaster reliefs from things we scavenged from the nearby hedgerows. They had a great time, but unfortunately I didn't get to see their finished reliefs because the plaster wasn't dry. I promised to drop them off at the school with the clay still attached so that the children had the excitement of 'unwrapping' them themselves.

It seems odd that it's all over, and a bit sad. Still I learnt something interesting about my show from a friend the other day...she was at a boat party (dressed as Marilyn Monroe) and a couple of people who knew about the exhibition said that some people had refused to go on the ferry because my work was on it, preferring to drive miles out of the way instead! I love it!

Farewell to Mylor School

Last week saw the final art workshop I gave at Mylor School. I thought you might be interested to see some of the fabulous work the children did. Each workshop was an hour long and the children were all in year 3 (aged 7 - 8). Kim was my official photographer for the Andy Goldsworthy inspired workshop. I think he did a great job!

The theme of the workshops was Explorers - exploring the natural world. The first drawings were made in charcoal and we were looking at trying to get the proportions of an object right by 'fitting' it into a geometric shape. Other workshops included making fossils in plaster relief and making ephemeral art from materials that we could find in the garden. Then we looked at how we could record them with photographs and drawings. The children said this and the plaster workshop were their favourites! I'm sad to be leaving; they were a great group. I'll be moving on to another school after Easter, but I still don't know which one it'll be yet...