It's All About the Grout!

In a shady corner outside Caroles' Studio (shed) there have been signs of tea drinking, butterfly watching and grouting!

This is the part we look forward to but in spite of gloves there is a certain artist who always gets plenty on herself and her clothes, hence the attractive overall!

Starting to clean away the excess grout

to gently reveal the image beneath

We thought it was nice to include parts of the surroundings to show scale and where most of the work has taken place. What photographs can't really capture is the play of light on the tiles, some of which have a lustre which changes colour as you move round.

So here are Puddle Jumping 

and Signal Box completed!

Many thanks to Andrew Rushton for the photographs and to Lucy Anderson so being such a star. 

11 panels done one to go! 

Return Shednologists!

Margot Norris nipping and tucking

Sonja Wilson deep in concentration

One of the best aspects of this project has been to see the excitement, pleasure, satisfaction and relaxation it has brought to all the participants. There have been so many interesting conversations, much shared laughter and a real sense of community both in the shed and out in the community venues we have visited. For the most part we have been lucky with the weather, even when it has been overcast or wet, people have come to take part. We really appreciate all the extra hours our Artist / Project Coordinator Carole Miles has put into the project to make it such a success! She also brews a mean cup of tea!

Another Welcome Guest Shednologist!

It was lovely to be joined by long time 

Back To Books stalwart Margot Norris

who liked the look but not the taste of the cherries in the 

garden until she sampled some of Carole's cherry vodka

and came up with her own unique recipe!

Then it was down to work, helping Carole to 

take the Signal Box panel on a stage further!

Bridge

This bridge is one of Carole's favourite parts of the Brampton Valley Way and one of the few remaining parts of the original railway line's architecture. 

Each year there is more rust than bridge left, the stair treads have been removed and it stands like a ghostly sculpture in the landscape.

The Northampton and Lamport Railway at Brampton Halt told us that would dearly love to move the bridge to the station and restore it's fragile rusting ironwork, 

but this may be a long way off as they have many other restoration projects underway at the station. It would be wonderful to preserve it, but then again, there is something graceful and strange about it's gradual weathering and decay.

Back in Carole's studio the Bridge mosaic panel begun at Stephenson Way continues to take shape, in spite of the thunder and heavy rain.

In the galley-like workspace, Carole has balanced one end of the panel on an open plan chest drawer and the other on the workbench in order to be able to work on the panel.

This is when the weather and the lack of space prove challenging, it is hard to check whether the colours are working and the lines describing the column are straight, even in the progress photograph, it's still quite hard to judge.

Having a limited budget, it is also a challenge to make the tiles we have and the colours we'd ideally like, stretch to cover the twelve panels. If you feel you'd like to help us overcome this practical concern you can make a donation to the project via our page on Localgiving.com. We would really appreciate your support, or you could wait until October, when there will be another Match Your Tenner campaign! 

Signal Box and Puddle Jumping Continued

Friday's Shednologists were Carolyn and Alice Bantin who worked together on the Signal Box panel 

Alice also took the opportunity to do some drawing and to try some new art materials.

After a very warm morning of mosaic making

mother and daughter had a rest in the shade before heading for home

In the afternoon Carole was joined by Kate Dyer and mosaic making stalwart Lucy Anderson. Kate worked with Carole outside on the Signal Box panel whilst Lucy braved the heat of the shed, aided a small electric fan and continued work on the puddles in Puddle Jumping.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Maureen Walvin and Grey Gibson continued the work on the Puddle Jumping panel. Predictably enough, the weather changed once again, the day was punctuated by heavy cloud and intermittent showers. 

but we stayed warm and dry

with a plentiful supply of tea!

Both found that mosaic making reminded them of 

their own experience of painting and quilting

and said the process was surprisingly relaxing.

Grey brought the gift of some much needed green tiles 

which added contrast to the areas they were working on. 

We are sure that the children from Priory Lower School

will be delighted when they see their puddlesome

adventure captured in mosaic form.

Hats on - Here Comes the Sun!

In contrast to the photo above - the inspiration for the Puddle Jumping panel - this was a day of glorious sunshine so we were able to work outside Carole's studio between the ripening cherries and the two budlea.

 

The unusually strong sunlight lead to 

some creative approaches to headgear 

from Sonja Wilson who niftily 

converted her bag into a sunhat

and Phiona Richards who pressed her 

Transported hat into good service.

Whilst working, we also had the 

company of many butterflies and bees

and we're happy to report that the panel 

is progressing well!

Puddle Jumping Panel Begins

Ros and Carole have begun work on Puddle Jumping a panel inspired by a trip made to Brampton Halt by children at Priory Lower School during the Tracing Our Tracks project in 2012. You can read about the children's visit and their time with Carole and Word In Edgeways storyteller Allan Davies here.

Even though the visit took place in the month of July there had been heavy rain the day before which resulted in plenty of very large, rather muddy puddles which just had to be explored! Carole was inspired by the children's delight at wading or jumping through puddles, in many cases, for the first time, hence the title of this panel! 

Shednology stalwart, Lucy had a burning question ...

"If I get the tiling finished today can we grout it tomorrow?!"

Carole had hoped to involve the children at the school in the making of this panel but unfortunately there was a mix-up and on the day she went to start work the children were away at their Sports day and there wasn't another date available before the end of term. However we are sure they will feel proud to know that a day they shared with the Back To Books team has become part of this project too! It's early days for the Puddle Jumping panel but we will keep you posted on it's progress, we're liking the look of it so far though!

July Brampton Up-cycle and Story Telling

When you see a sign that says Beware it's handy to have a Storyteller in your party.

 Luckily Carole and the children from Year 2 Priory Lower School

had Allan Davies from A Word in Edgeways in their carriage at the Northampton & Lamport Railway

He brought us tall tales and magical music.

We up-cycled empty cardboard snack boxes

creating colourful collages with tissue paper

cutout paper shapes

and glue

Having made boxes fit for treasure

we set about creating

fabric rosettes

to carry back to school.

The children said "This is the best day ever!" 

We all remembered the joy of a tale well told and a world where a cardboard box could provide scope for the imagination. The carriage may have been stationary but our minds were full of the sights, sounds, smells and textures of an old railway line which once carried people and goods through an even older landscape.