Stourhead plans

    
We went to Stourhead, the National Trust gardens in Wiltshire, to discuss possible Scraptor installations as  part of the Trust's  presentation from 2014 of how the First World War affected the estate and the community. There will be exhibits in the house about Harry Hoare, the heir to the property. The intended Scraptors contribution  would be eye-catching outside installations  illustrating aspects life before the War and how it changed for all in the community.  There was for example Ebenezer Stone, a groom in the stables, who lost both legs in the war. One of the planned installations will be about him. Like everything this project requires funding and sorting that is the next stage.
    The image above shows an officer of  the Dorset Yeomanry by the Pyramids.  Harry was killed with that regiment in the Middle East. 

Frogs back in Scraptors sculpturemad garden from Braydon Maize Maze

 The Frogs are back in the Scraptors sculpturemad garden from a sojourn in the Braydon Maize Maze in Wiltshire. Anthony made them in 2009 for the Love London Recycled Sculpture Show at the London Wetland Centre in which he curated (see below). Also back from the Maze the Insect and Mondrian Man.

Bird Henge Trail and World War 1

 Anthony has been researching for the online ramblers' trail - the Bird Henge Trail - that will be created when we have created the Bird Henge which will be by a public footpath in the Wylye Valley in Wiltshire. The online trail will feature images of times past. The Bird Henge will be on the site of an army camp at Heytesbury. The image above shows soldiers in that camp and below is a soldier in an unidentified camp in the Valley. Images courtesy of Waminster Museum.

Creating with Creative Wiltshire

Anthony went on a ten mile walk and collaborative workshop with other artists organized by  Creative Wiltshire www.creativewiltshire.co.uk on a perfect winter day in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty  www.ccwwdaonb.org.uk There are splendid views  and ancient woodland. The pond below is a rare surviving intact dewpond.

Bird Henge started

We have started on our Bird Henge. We have erected a giant Owl Idol in the Scraptors sculpturemad garden . The bird headed High Priests will be in procession towards it. The beak is a bonnet from a Volkswagen Beetle car and the eyes are the tops of patio heaters. The  Bird Henge will be beside a public path and we will create a circular  online ramblers trail, the Bird Henge Trail,which will pass by it.

World War II Bridge?

Anthony has been doing research for the online circular ramblers' trail the Bird Henge Trail that will be created when we have built our Bird Henge near Stonehenge. Since he was a toddler, he has toddled across this bridge nearby. Researching for the trail he was curious about its origin. It has a bit of what looks like a rail set in the concrete. Railways were built in World War 1 to service local army camps but he was  told that this was a practice bridge in World War II in preparing for the invasion of Normandy.

"Collide" at Crypt Gallery St Pancras Church London- stuff we like

This inspiring group exhibition continues at the Crypt Gallery St Pancras Church in London in a wonderful venue. A sewing machine below has been used for a sculpture. Anthony felt an affinity with this piece as he used a sewing machine in a similar way by adding a flint and gold paint (the bottom picture).   Collide continues for tow more days.

Cheeky Lion and Grinning Unicorn

Our next project a Bird Henge of giant birds to be added to the sculpturemad garden will be accompanied by an online circular Birdhenge Trail for ramblers  to go on the website of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty www.ccwwdaonb.org.uk   The AONB has given a grant to the project. We are researching the places of interest on the trail which will start and finish at the Prince Leopold pub in Upton Lovell in Wiltshire and go past Bird Henge (yet to be built by the Scraptors) Upton Lovell church has this 1717 royal coat of arms from the reign of George 1 with a lion sticking its tongue out and a grinning unicorn. There is also an effigy of a mediaeval knight.

Aliens land near Warminster Wiltshire

                                        New arrivals in Scraptors' sculpturemad garden.

Bird Henge to happen

Good news. We were offered a grant today from the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Beauty www.ccwwdaonb.org.uk to cover some of the costs of building a Bird Henge near Stonehenge on Anthony's land as part of the Scraptors Sculpturemad Garden  so we can now go ahead. This will be next to a public path and visible 24/7.  There will be giant Wiltshire birds including the Great Bustard, the world's heaviest flying bird, which has been reintroduced into the county.

Surf Skate Bristol

Perhaps thanks to the Banksy effect Bristol has a wacky side. This is the Surf Skate shop near   the Bristol Museum where you can see for the first time in 150 years the remains of an Ancient Roman mosaic of Orpheus and animals. See below.

Helicopter morphs as a dragonfly and a duck near Stonehenge

 Charlotte Moreton led a guided tour of the sculptures  she created with apprentices of Qinetiq near Stonehenge between 2007 and 2013. This stripped out helicopter became a dragon fly. Unintentionally it also looks like a duck. Below a life sized horse made with powder coated steel and bent steel tubing. And bottom a giant mallow. The nosecone of a Beagle Bulldog plane is its centre.You can see the dragon fly as you drive towards Stonehenge from London.

Some new beasts in the Scraptors' sculpture mad garden

 The Indian summer perfect for adding some beasts to the Scraptors' sculpture mad garden.

Sculptures on show for another week in Somerset

 One more week of the Somerset Art Weeks. Above and below stainless steel by Ian Marlow near Frome. At bottom by Lily Sawtell in Castle Cary

Camels catch the train

We have been researching a project for 2014 -  a sculpture trail at Stourhead the National Trust's eighteenth century landscaped garden to illustrate the effect of World War 1 on the people of the area. Many joined the Dorset Yeomanry and this is an image in the Military Museum in Dorchester showing entrained camels. The Yeomanry found themselves in Egypt.

Out of the Woods

Paul's solo show at the Farm, Hopetoun Rd Bristol BS2 9YL has been extended until the end of the month.

Grotesque Inspiration

       
We feel an affinity with mediaeval grotesques. These are in Melun France.

Unintentional giant snail sculpture

Piled up outside and old quarry at Durlston Country Park Dorset are some odds and ends of rock which were never lowered by cranes down the cliff to waiting boats.  They form a weird giant snail. Nearby is a deliberate globe made of granite.

Scraptor Sculpture goes into the Maize Maze

 We are exhibiting some pieces in the Amazing five acre Braydon Maize near Swindon in Wiltshire.
www.braydonmaizemaze.co.uk  Above Mondrian Man by Anthony; the legs are made out of clapped our water tank. Below he is now in the maize. Below that one of three giant frogs made by Anthony for the Love London Recycled Sculpture Show at the London Wetlands Centre in 2009 which he also curated. And below the Insect made by Paul, Anthony and Rachel for the sculpture trail at Stourhead the National Trust property in 2011. Below the Insect munching a bit of maize you can see in the Maize Maze work by Gordon Dickinson www.pavenhillsculptures.com