First pour in the angular mould

With this cast I am going to use the colours depicting the different rock types from the bedrock geology of the Cheeseburn area.

Rather than simply pouring the plaster in straight layers, I am going to alter the angle of the mould with each pour. My reason for doing so is to prevent the sculpture from being too predictable.

Time for the layers of colour

After a couple of weeks spent making the moulds, and preparing the outside surfaces of the sculpture, it was finally the time to add the initial layers of coloured plaster into the mould.

My choice of colours is being determined by the colours used to depict the different layers of rock in bedrock geology.

I have investigated the geology of the Cheeseburn Grange region, and will follow this pattern for these casts.

Coloured layer 1

Sound Strata of Coastal Northumberland by Susan Stenger

Recently I've been looking at bedrock geology, and on Tuesday I visited the Natural History Society of Northumbria, to view, amongst various other items, a beautiful scroll showing the bedrock geology of Northumbria from Cullercoats to Croclin. I was able to identify the geology of the Cheeseburn Grange area, and am planning on using this information to inform the colours that I choose for some of my casts.

Susan Stenger, Sound Strata of Coastal Northumberland, 2014. Photo Colin Davison, courtesy of AV Festival 14

In relation to the bedrock map, it was suggested that I look at Sound Strata of Coastal Northumberland, a work by Susan Stenger that was at the Laing Gallery as part of AV Festival 2014. She produced a sound installation based on a cross-section diagram of coastal geological formations. The diagram covered the area from the River Tyne to the Scottish border, and was drawn by the local mining engineer Nicolas Wood in the 1830s. Stenger used the diagram as a graphic score, and transformed the geologic into the sonic in a 58-minute work that travels from the coal seams of Tyneside to the porphyritic rocks north of the Tweed, layering instrumental sounds, melodic patterns and signature rhythms extracted from traditional Northumbrian music and dance. 

Susan Stenger, Sound Strata of Coastal Northumberland, 2014. Photo Colin Davison, courtesy of AV Festival 14

"Responding to history, culture and place-names as well as the drawing’s structures, she combined surface detail of fiddle and Northumbrian smallpipe patterns with deep shifting seams of brass band harmonies, voice, Border and Highland pipes to create a unique portrait of place."

http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2014/events-and-exhibitions/susan-stenger-sound-strata-of-coastal-northumberland

Bedrock Geology

Nigel (one of the 2nd year MFA students) and I share a love of maps, and we have had some great discussions about our work in relation to the landscape, rock formations and natural and manmade materials.

He brought in a type of map that I have never seen before, and introduced me to the wonders of Bedrock Geology.

Bedrock geology (formerly known as 'solid' geology by British Geological Survey) is a term used for the main mass of rocks forming the Earth and present everywhere, whether exposed at the surface in outcrops or concealed beneath superficial deposits or water. The bedrock has formed over vast lengths of geological time ranging from ancient and highly altered rocks of the Proterozoic, some 2500 million years ago, or older, up to the relatively young Pliocene, 2.6 million years ago.

http://www.bgs.ac.uk/products/digitalmaps/digmapgb_solid.html

The key to the map is a beautiful thing, let alone the map.







The colour schemes within the map are uncanningly similar to the colours used within some of my forms.