Category Archives: General news

Winsor and Newton factory tour

I have just been on a tour of the marvellous Winsor and Newton factory in Harrow. Wearing a white coat and ear protectors, you get to see most of the processes involved in making paint, from the big vats of pigment and the huge rollers that process it until it is the right consistency, to the various methods used to test for viscosity, the machine that extrudes great lengths of solid watercolour. The highlight is the Rose Madder room, where they make pigment the same way they have been using for 200 years – the madder roots are crushed and mixed with some secret substances, left to mature in a jumbo oak barrel, then the mixture is left in a linen hammock for several weeks – the sight of rows of pink tinged hammocks with a very slow quiet dripping beneath them is very beautiful. Finally visitors can try out the paints – transparent yellow and blood-like perylene marroon are my favourites.

Wandle lantern project

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I have been making prototype lanterns and testing them ready for a special project with Wimbledon Chase primary and Cricket Green school in Mitcham. The workshops will be at Morden Hall Park as part of the National Trust’s School Arts Partnership scheme.

Over the next few weeks the children involved in the project will be creating their own individual lanterns and decorating with designs inspired by the park environment, ready for a special ceremony on 25th November when the lanterns will be floated on the river Wandle at dusk, inspired by Japanese lantern festivals.

Today I tested the lanterns on the river, assisted by volunteers from the Wandle Trust.

A gentle explosion

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A soft sculpture work created for the forthcoming new illustration publication ‘Pick n Mix’. The theme for the first issue is ‘explosion’, so I have imagined how an explosion might look if it had a personality, and that personality was soft and gentle.

Bowerbird print series

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: bowerbird with feathers

: bowerbird with clock

: bowerbird with pencil

: bowerbird with peg

: bowerbird – city hatter

: bowerbird with helicopter

Here’s a new set of screenprints ready for the show ‘A Pair of Drawers’ with my sister Alison Porter. The prints are inspired by the resident bowerbird at Melbourne Museum, and show the variety of blue things bowerbirds like to collect – pen lids, bottle tops, clothes pegs, toy helicopters…in non-urban areas they collect snail shells and feathers instead.

‘A Pair of Drawers’ is at The Brunswick, 3 Duke Street, Swansea SA1 4HS, October 8 – November 22, 11.30am to 11pm daily.

Snout, claw, tusk, paw private view

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Lots of people came and enjoyed playing with the giant cubes and looking at pictures at the private view at The Old Sweet Shop on July 17th.

A flock of Osterley peacocks

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I designed these origami peacocks for the National Trust at Osterley House – they will be on the back of the garden trail for visitors to make at home. Thanks to Freya for the colouring in.

Last day of the puppet workshops

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Families from Liberty School, Mitcham outside the Snuff Mill at Morden Hall Park with the puppets they made as part of the National Trust’s London Voices project. Thankyou to all the families for being so creative and so enthusiastic.

Family Trees

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A drop in activity for families at Morden Hall Park on April 20, making a ‘family tree’ with portraits suspended from the branches.

Puppets at Morden Hall Park

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I have just finished a big project working with families from Liberty School in Mitcham and the National Trust at Morden Hall Park. Over 6 weeks everyone – adults and children – built up a file of exciting textures, printed textiles etc., then used them to create some really vibrant puppets. The puppets all have names and some very strong characters, and their creators imagined how they would have interacted with real-life people in the park’s history. I specially like ‘The King’ who had a stand-up argument with William Morris, and Molly Munchkin who has a special pocket on the front of her dress for all the things she collects. There will be in an exhibition of the work at the Snuff Mill at the park in May.