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

marginendeavour progress with eyesore

marginendeavour progress with Eyesore

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.

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/

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/

Preparing for Cheeseburn Sculpture June 2019 Open Weekend

In preparation for the next Open Weekend at Cheeseburn Sculpture on 29th and 30th June 2019, local maker David Kirkland is busy working on his collection of ceramic bird boxes.

David owns some woodland about 20 miles from the Cheeseburn estate. It is here that David digs the clay from which they are made, which he then processes back at his home in Newcastle. 

All are fired to 1250C, which makes them frostproof - they will outlast the tree or wall they are attached to!  

New boxes are designed to RSPB specifications to suit a range of specific bird species. Some of the new boxes will be textured to look rock-like, achieved by making glazes from rocks David collects from Northumberland, and wood ash from his fire. Other new boxes will be unglazed, but heavily textured (like the picture example), allowing the character of the Northumbrian clay they are made from to be seen.

 

Cheeseburn Open Weekend

As the Spring and Summer months are upon us, we have the Cheeseburn open weekends to look forward to. The programme changes over the course of the 5 months, so there are plenty of reasons to visit repeatedly over the year.

Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year Prize 2019

For the May open weekends, visitors were invited to explore the proposals in the Stables Gallery by 10 young artists who have been shortlisted to become the 2019 Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year.

Each artist is supported and mentored by Cheeseburn Curator Matthew Jarratt and the winning artist will receive £6500 to realise their idea at Cheeseburn in spring 2020.

The award is in its 4th year and was conceived by Joanna Riddell at Cheeseburn in 2015 and The Gillian Dickinson Trust has recently renewed their funding support for Cheeseburn to deliver this important opportunity for young artists for another 3 years.

Clare Townley, the 2018 winner of the Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year Prize exhibited her new installation and dancer Simona Yovcheva was performing in response to her artwork.

The chapel was the site for an impressive collection of glass ships in glass bottles as part of a project by Dr Ayako Tani. "Vessels of Memory  aims to document the skills and experience of glassworkers."

There were also numerous new sculptures exhibited around the grounds.