Cheeseburn Sculpture Open Weekends

I'm delighted to have been invited by curator Matthew Jarratt to present an audio installation at Cheeseburn Sculpture as part of the Summer programme.

Cheeseburn Sculpture is open to visitors on

Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 May

Saturday 29, Sunday 30 and Monday 31 May

Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 June

Tickets to visit Cheeseburn Sculpture in 2021 are now on sale.

Eyesore at Cheeseburn

Eyesore

At last, we (marginendeavour) finally get to exhibit our billboard, in the grounds of Cheeseburn, Northumberland.

It took 18 months to complete but it has been worth the wait.

The work comprises of margins from newspapers and embossed foam board lettering.

It will be on display each weekend and bank holiday in August.  

Book your tickets now to visit

http://cheeseburn.com/#visit-2

Lockdown (easing) - Day 126

Last day of Cheeseburn Open Weekends 2019

Today is the final day that Cheeseburn will be open to the public in 2019.

Come today to experience

- 72 sculptures around the grounds 
- Pop up design shop with Sustainable Ceramics selling a range of ceramic bird boxes

- Pop up design shop featuring work by Yvette Hawkins

- Video installation by Bennett Hogg and Merrie Snell in the Chapel
- Louise Plant 'Regatta' exhibition in the Stables Gallery
- a delicious range of refreshments including cakes, salads and the epic sausage rolls sold in the cafe

Be sure not to miss out!

http://cheeseburn.com/

Regatta by Louise Plant with soundscape by Bennett Hogg at Cheeseburn

The current exhibition in the gallery at Cheeseburn is Regatta by Louise Plant. The ‘Regatta’ series is inspired by Louise Plant’s observations of rowing. These sculptures simultaneously embody the vortices created by rowers oars being forced through the water and the controlled, explosive, cyclical, rhythmical drive and glide of the rower, connecting mind, body and water.

Sound artist Bennett Hogg collaborated with Louise Plant for the soundscape of the exhibition. The soundscape mostly consists of hydrophone recordings made at Fontburn Reservoire in Northumberland.



Bennett Hogg explains

"I was struck by the bright, almost glassy quality of the hydrophone recordings, and so have also done some convolution filtering with samples of crystal wine glasses. The piece is quiet and contemplative, playing with the idea that elements can transform into one another. Just as Louise has transformed forms observed in water into stone, I've tried to find a solid resonance to the sound of water."




Louise's exhibition will be open to the public again at the final 2019 Cheeseburn Sculpture Open Weekend on Saturday 31st August and Sunday 1st September at Cheeseburn Grange Sculpture Gardens, near Stamfordham, Northumberland.

All boxed up and ready to go to Cheeseburn

For the next couple of weekends Sustainable Ceramics will be displaying and selling a range of unique handmade bird boxes in the Design Arch at Cheeseburn.

Over the past few weeks David has been thinking about ways to improve the production process and make it more consistent. He has purchased a number of larger containers that will allow him to process larger batches of clay, and has prepared a large plaster slab on which he will leave the clay to dry. The plaster will absorb the water and speed up the drying process.



As the weekend approached we have been particularly busy. I've been creating new product information sheets, giving information about Sustainable Ceramics, and about the production process. David has been sketching some new designs and working on a new batch of boxes to be fired this week in time for next weekend.

We have boxed up all the bird boxes ready to be transported and displayed at Cheeseburn. We hope that visitors appreciate what they see, and find the story behind Sustainable Ceramics an interesting one.

Cheeseburn Open Weekend July 2019 - Becky Mackenzie Ceramics

Over the past couple of Open Weekends at Cheeseburn, Northumberland-based ceramicist Becky Mackenzie has been exhibiting her work. Becky Mackenzie is a ceramic designer and maker specialising in elegant and minimal pieces in very fine porcelain, bone china and earthenware.


Such thin and delicate forms are created through the slip casting process. However, it is not possible to achieve the signs of the hands using slip casting alone. She achieves this by first throwing a vessel. The resulting form has traces of the hand; the human element that went into creating the form. Mackenzie then pours the slip into the form and, when set, the indentations and gestures made by the hands when throwing the pot are transferred to the cast.


I really enjoy the non-decorative simplicity of the forms and the signs of the making process that are evident in the vessels themselves. I'm also rather partial to the colour scheme!

http://www.lagomceramics.uk/

http://cheeseburn.com/

Cheeseburn Open Weekend July 2019 - Simon Hitchens in the gallery

I spent another excellent weekend working at Cheeseburn Open Weekend. The grounds looked stunning, with the colourful flowers in full bloom and the grass as lush as ever. The glorious sunshine added to the joy of the two days.

Based predominantly at the main reception with Tia and Ell, I had the pleasure of meeting and greeting hundreds of visitors to Cheeseburn, and the satisfaction of seeing them leave with huge smiles and many positive comments. There was plenty to keep people happy, even without the art!


This weekend saw the end of the Simon Hitchens exhibition in the gallery. His intricate drawings in the 'Thinking Beyond Rock' collection remind me of spirographs. They have been created by tracing the shadows of a rock over the course of an entire day. Every 15 minutes Hitchens traces the line of the shadow cast by the rock, and over the duration of the day as the shadow moves, the lines track the movement of the sun.

Simon explains, “The natural world is an endless source of inspiration to me, and a direct tool I use to create my work. For example, the current body of work I am pursuing requires sunlight as the source for image making, drawing shadows cast by a rock between sunrise and sunset. The resultant drawings are unique in time and space to a given location on the planet, recording the relentless rotation of the earth beneath our feet.”

http://cheeseburn.com/

http://www.simonhitchens.com/

Cheeseburn Open Weekend - Sustainable Ceramics

I was delighted that visitors to Cheeseburn Open Weekend were so positive about the range of bird boxes produced by Sustainable Ceramics. Looking forward to seeing them at Cheeseburn again next weekend.

Cheeseburn Open Weekend

It's been a really busy week for Sustainable Ceramics getting ready for Cheeseburn Open Weekend this weekend.

In order to give an impression of what the bird boxes look like when they are installed in trees, Sustainable Ceramics created a number of minute bird boxes that could be displayed in Bonsai trees. 

Getting ready for the weekend at Cheeseburn Sculpture

In the run up to the next open weekend at Cheeseburn (this weekend - 29th and 30th June 2019),  local maker David Kirkland tests out his new kiln with his latest batch of sustainable ceramic bird boxes. The excitement (and tension) mounts as the lid door opens to reveal...

Sustainable Ceramics will have a range of bird boxes for sale at Cheeseburn over the summer. For more information about the Cheeseburn Open Weekends, please visit http://cheeseburn.com/