The crowd sculpture for Byker
This is how the sculpture for Harbottle Park in Byker should look when it is finished. I have selected the stone for the work so know the size and shapes of the blocks that l be heading my way soon. The community have provided me with over 200 drawings that can be used in the sculpture, all that remains is for me to design and carve them into the 8 and a half tonnes of sandstone that is shortly to be arriving at Hall Farm. Hopefully they will be ready to install around November time. Unfortunately, the stones are going to be too big and too heavy to get inside the workshop so will have to be carved outside. In that respect, some good weather over the next couple of months would not go amiss. The stones are in the process of having flat bases sawn at the quarry to aid their standing up but I will post more pictures when they arrive.
I have just returned from Newcastle where I have been running a number of workshops in Harbottle Park in Byker. We ran the workshops in the estates surrounding the park and invited people to come along and have a go. The idea was for them to think about a moment in a football match that they have watched or played in and to draw onto the stone their expression at that moment in time. They then spent time carving the stones which they could take away and keep. I have kept all of their drawings and will use them in a “crowd scene ” sculpture for the park which I will be making in the coming months. The workshops were a huge success with over 120 stones being carved by both children and adults. Of those who took part, the youngest was 2 and the oldest was 87! Well done to everyone who joined in, there were some great little carvings. I will post pictures of the “Crowd sculpture” on the blog as it develops.
