EXQUISITE HERITAGE - Cathedral Exhibition: 'Just Passing Through...' Bird side

Sculpture: 'Just Passing Through..."

Construction and drawing details of the 'Bird' side

Details of the 'Bird' side of the Wing

It all started with a broken towel holder...

The paper pattern

The internal structure taking shape, I ended up not using the wire

Add some structural 'bones' from a broken willow laundry basket...

It actually hangs! Double sided wing

Glueing on the hand made paper

A drawing stage of the 'bird' side

Exquisite Heritage - Cathedral Exhibition: 'Just Passing Through...' Angel side

Sculpture: 'Just Passing Through...' Angel Wing

Is it life size? Not sure, but it's large enough to fit me! The decision to exhibit in the Peterborough Cathedral  Visitor Centre Gallery was a bit 'spur of the moment' but gave me the chance to look at the tapestries behind the High Altar. I was really pleased to see that one tapestry depicted the Angel rescuing St Peter from prison, from the Book of Acts in the Bible. This was the excuse I needed to finally create my own pair of wings! The Angel depicted has only one wing, the second presumably hidden behind its shining halo, so I have created one wing for this exhibition, plus a heel...The image of an Angel of God passing through a wall to reach St Peter was too great to resist and I'm hoping the illusion works once exhibited! A second wing (and perhaps an elbow) will follow in my next Exquisite Heritage Exhibition in the future, so this is a 'work in progress' although also stands (or hangs) alone.

1st stage drawing with gold enamel paint

2nd stage underpainting in oils

Final stage of the 'Angel' side
of the Wing

EXQUISITE HERITAGE - Cathedral Exhibition: 'On the Wing'

'Fragment' painting: 'On the Wing'

Final painting completed

2nd Stage of painting

This is a smaller 'fragment' painting, with motifs drawn from sketches from the V&A's 'The Fabric of India' exhibition in 2015. A lovely embroidered bed hanging from 1700, embroidered in Gujarat for the European market, caught my eye, and not only inspired me to create a painted response to the vibrant colours and shapes, but also started the train of thought which resulted in another 'work in progress', a set of wings. For this painting I defined my own bird motif but included some of the blue and red motifs found on the hanging.