Trackway Installation

The final sculpture on the Sefton Coastal Path Sculpture Trail was installed at Hightown just before Christmas.

This sculpture forms a trackway that runs along the new cycle path leading from Hightown to Crosby beach.

Over 20 feet of wood has been installed which contain artwork relating to the ancient man-made trackway that has been discovered in the area.

For the artwork we visited Cambridge Children’s Centre and Brunswick Youth Club and delivered workshops based on metal embossing. The images are all of food that our ancestors would have eaten in the area.

Going to the location we lay out the trackway

making some on site adjustments

and then a little bit of digging and turf removal

before lying them down and securing them in place.

Huge thanks to Fiona, John and Rachel, to all at the Cambridge Children’s Centre and the super kids and staff at the Brunny. And as always to Phill and Joe – Adam, you were missed – such a super installation team.

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Installation of the Poles

The Poles for the stained glass pieces have been installed and rise like ancient sentinels on the sand dunes at Ainsdale.

The poles arrived as tree trunks and have been transformed  along the way by the team…

from their arrival as raw tree trunk logs..

to  the stripping of the bark by Paul

and the creation of the window cavities by Phill.

Finally they were ready to take on site and erect on top of the sand dunes opposite the ‘Star of Hope’ shipwreck.  We arrived with plenty of man-and-woman-power to unpack the van

and walked up the dunes to assess the best spot for digging in the footings,

checking the sight-line from the beach.

The dunes are fragile, so the posts had to be carried up by hand – taking 8 of us in harness to lift  them up the steep slope one step at a time.

Then the digging could start.

When the holes were deep enough, the poles were guided in and embedded with more sand..

Great views!

and a well deserved lunch break – pies all round!

We left the beautiful poles to overlook the dune path

and await  the installation of the glass…..

watch this space!

Big thanks to the lifting team:  Anna, Emily, Fiona, Phill, Joe, Adam, Sarah and Sian

The Lizard bench update!

How wonderful to see some people and their furry friends enjoying the Lizard bench down Fisherman’s Path – we thought we would share :

Sheila’s lovely furry faces Bertie and Elliot

Geoff and Hannah with the incredible Nico

Jayne with her perfect little Jack Russels, Florrie and Mavis

Cheryl with the friendliest dogs ever – Winston and Monty

 

John with beautiful Luna.

Thanks so much for sharing these pictures! We love to see pictures of families and pets enjoying the sculptures so if you go visiting please do take a picture and share it with us via our facebook page: www.facebook.com/seftoncoastsculpturetrail2015

 

Glazing the Clay Feet

After the bisque firing we went to the Southport Ceramic Studio to see the clay feet. We were really thrilled with the way they turned out, with strong imprints of toes and feet.

Everyone at the family day workshop had done a great job of rolling on the plants and there is a lovely mixture of both bold and delicate forms.

There are over 40 feet – including animal paw prints – that we will be able to choose from for the wall. We spent 3 hours painting on glazes and oxides and rubbing them into the delicate plant traceries.

Under the guidance of Chris

Then into the kiln for the final firing

Once fired they look absolutely beautiful, especially against a plank of 7000 year old bog oak

Next stage is building the wall…

 

 

Clay Footprints Workshop

Last month we hosted a family friendly event at Ainsdale Discovery center where we invited members of the public to come and be part of the Sculpture Trail.

We displayed a selection of flora and encouraged people to choose the plants which they liked the best.

They then used rolling pins to impress the plant into some clay

and then it was shoes off as people, large and small, created footprints in the clay…

Even our little furry friends making some too..

We then very carefully peeled all the leaves off…

To reveal lots of fantastic clay feet impressions

and lots of happy faces!

A huge thanks to everyone who bared their feet to take part in such a fun filled day – and to our wonderful helpers Jayne and Melanie.

 

Lizard Bench Installed on Fisherman’s Path

The Great Day has arrived for installing the Lizard Bench. We arrived early at Bridge Inn Community Farm to give the Lizard Bench a final buffing, then Phill and Adam guided it out to the van ready for the journey to the new home.

The Bench was carefully escorted out of the building

and onto Phill’s van with a hoist.

A sending off committee arrived with Thank You cards and after a quick photo opportunity ……

we were off to the Natural England site, where the Lizards emerged….

and were carefully loaded onto the trailer….

 

We all piled in the Land Rover and set off for the site on the Fisherman’s Path….

Sarah cleared the site……

while the men watched….

and the Lizards were loaded and lifted for the last time.

The  Bench was finally set on its feet and settled into its new surroundings.

Inspecting the Bench and the First Sittings!!

Sarah’s celebration head stand!!!!

The Lizards look at home

It’s a beautiful site!

  Thanks to: Sarah and Sian’s design and concept; Phill’s routing; Adams assistance; Bridge Inn Community Farm; Hobby Island mosaics; John Dempsey and the Natural England Team, Pete, Tony and Sophie!

Bird Bench

We had a very creative day with Natural Alternatives who are an essential and hard working voluntary part of the wider team that keeps the Sefton Coastal Path going and in good repair.

We used  the Cyanotype process for the Bird Bench – a perfect  link in colour and images for this sculpture.  This is an alternative photographic process invented by John Hershcel in 1842 and used in the 19C to record plant specimens. The group explored the process using feathers and images of birds to celebrate  Marshside RSPB where the Coastal Path starts.

 

Two of the group demonstrating the colour of the paper to start with – the Bockingford watercolour paper has been painted with a light sensitive solution that is green until it is exposed to ultra violet light.

 

When the paper is rinsed in tap water, the colour changes to a beautiful deep blue, leaving behind a perfect image of whatever was placed on the green sheet – in this case feathers.

 

The images created celebrates some of the species of birds that can be seen at Marshside RSPB: avocets; curlew; pink footed geese; skylarks among others. The group also placed some plants and leaves around the images, making some beautiful scenes.

The group worked hard all day and we had good fun with the process with lovely pieces to put in the Bench – thank you Natural Alternatives!!