Hyde Park Community Orchard Mosaics
Toad
I’ve only just got round to photographing (and uploading) some of the finished mosaic elements from the Hyde Park Community Orchard public artwork. The insects, birds and animals shown here are just a few of the mosaics created for the seating, wildlife discovery trail and pathway to the Orchard, all contained within an apple pip shape that formed a connecting element throughout the artwork.
Wasp
Swift
Red Admiral Butterfly
Nuthatch
Greenfinch
Honey Bee
Mosaic lettering – timelapse
I should have posted this ages ago but have only just worked out how to embed video in to my blog!
This shows the first stage of making the outdoor classroom mosaic floor. The method being used to create the mosaic is the double-indirect method, whereby the tiles are stuck onto brown paper and then reversed ready for installation. The fill-in and background colours are added once the detail has been reversed. To give you an idea of how long the mosaics took to create, the word ‘Merryweather Damson’ which is being created in this time-lapse took about 1 day to complete…
Hyde Park Community Orchard Artwork – installation
Just before the build fortnight on the RHS Tatton show garden, I had 10 days in the rain (plus one dry day) installing artwork in the Hyde Park Community Orchard. Not ideal weather for installing a mosaic which is mounted on paper but we soldiered on and (almost) got everything finished.
First job was a dry fit of the classroom floor mosaic to check it all fitted together onto the 3m concrete base. The mosaic was separated into 27 sections, so it took a bit of work to make sure it all went together as it should.
Laying out the mosaic and cast stone ‘apple pip’ inserts for the Wildlife Discovery Trail sculptures…
Then the rain started…
We got the mosaic wording in on a dry Sunday with the help of Des…
But at one point we had two gazebos and three tarpaulins over the mosaic and they still weren’t enough to keep the rain out.
Richard Dawson was also installing his oak benches and banquet table at the same time. These were the holes for the foundations of the banquet table to sit in. There’s about a foot of water in them here… another couple of hours and they were full.
Still smiling… or is that grimacing?
Next Hyde Park Community Orchard post – the finished artwork!
Hyde Park Community Orchard mosaics – the next stage
All the mosaic fruits for the outdoor classroom mosaic floor are completed to the first brown paper stage. Here are the parts I’ve been doing…
Next week, we’ll be laying it out and, once we’ve reversed the completed parts (so they’re back to front), we’ll be starting on the fill-in colours using unglazed procelain tiles.
Hyde Park Community Orchard – mosaics design
Here’s the final design for the mosaic flooring of the outdoor classroom in Hyde Park Community Orchard. At three metres diameter, its a fairly substantial undertaking but will look fantastic once completed. The design is inspired by artwork produced in creative workshops we facilitated with local schools and groups. Ann (from Green Monster Arts) and I have just started the making…
Mosaic lettering test panels – Hyde Park
As part of the Hyde Park Community Orchard artwork, we’re creating a 3m diameter circular mosaic. This will form the central part of the outdoor classroom and is a substantial part of the commission. Part of the design is a circle of text that includes all the names of the fruit trees planted in the orchard.
I’ve created some test panels of text to see if the style/font I want to use is achievable and that it isn’t going to be too time-consuming to create almost 200 letters from mosaics. As the lettering on this outer ring of text is only 50mm high, there’s not a lot of room for error but the most fiddly bit proved to be filling in the background colour.
The second panel is the test piece for a central ring of text that reads ‘Hyde Park Community Orchard’. This will be done in the same font but is slightly bigger with 80mm high lettering.
Hyde Orchard Creative Sessions – Day Three
Block printing and paper mosaics on the menu today…
We had a school gardening group in the morning and trainees from the Park Cafe in the afternoon. The Cafe provided us with a lovely buffet and afternoon tea and cakes!
Hyde Orchard Creative Sessions – Day Two
Beautiful sunshine for our second day of creative sessions for the Hyde Park Community Orchard artwork. First, a game of Fruit Salad outside with a massive parachute, then inside for workshops with two consecutive groups of 30 children from Flowery Field Primary School. The groups created lots of mosaics – made from fruit (and veg) and also paper.
Success! Hyde Park Community Orchard Artwork…
Last year myself and two other artists (Ann Gilligan and Richard Dawson) were successful in gaining a commission to create artwork (pending funding) for the Hyde Park Community Orchard in Hyde, Greater Manchester. Just before Christmas we found out the Community Spaces funding bid had been successful and we have now started the project.
The artwork will include an outdoor classroom, a wildlife trail and an entrance feature all informed by work produced in sessions with local schools and community groups. The final pieces will feature a number of different techniques and materials including wood, cast-stone and mosaics.
There are lots of other things happening in the Orchard so keep an eye on the Operation Farm blog for more details. I’ll also be posting about the ‘art’ side of things regularly!
Being A Freelance Artist 