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Derbyshire Record Office
As part of the Excite Inspire Engage Erewash project, I met and worked with the rather lovely and very talented Paula Moss on the Metal Ages section.
Amongst other things, Paula has been Artist-In-Residence at the Derbyshire Record Office whilst they redesigned and refurbished their space, and as the project is coming to an end, we got the opportunity to take a “back stage” tour to see what it was all about.
I guess I’ve never given much thought to what a record office does. Is it a library service, a museum, a room full of files and paper? Well, I guess it’s all of those and more.
The office, at Matlock, houses 12 rooms of records for both Derby city and Derbyshire as well as local studies books, and also
You can find out all sorts of information about anything in the area, and the staff are very generous with the help and support. The outlook at this friendly office is that this information is there for the public to see and to make use of, and not only can you access a wealth of information, you can even see, touch and use original documents.
There’s a huge variety of things in their collection from the original silk paper charter for the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School at Ashbourne, to original woodcut blocks and prints from local artists, slave records from a plantation (owned by a Derbyshire estate) and much much more.
A fabulous resource if you are researching for an art project, or looking into your family tree.
It’s free to use and open, without the need for appointments six days a week. Well worth a visit, and they even have a lovely little break room with a most appealing aroma from the coffee machine if you don’t fancy wandering down the hill back into Matlock.
Can’t wait for the chance to go back and study something – I fear I could lose most of a day though!
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Hot Metal
As ever, my life has been hectic with things related to my business, the studio and of course home life – I knew I hadn’t written a blog post for a while; well Christmas was the last one I remembered. What I hadn’t realised was that I never posted anything about the second Metal Ages sculpture, and that was well, AGES ago!
Back at the end of September, we finally got the opportunity to install the final sculpture at Erewash Museum in Ilkeston. I say ‘we’ – that would be me with the camera and occasionally passing a drill or screwdriver, and Gavin & Mark doing the lifting, carrying, digging, drilling….
This one is a rather large sculpture. It’s over two metres high, and about two and a half metres wide. It is made up of 7,000 nuts, which represents the size of the workforce when Stanton Ironworks was in it’s heyday. It has four ‘vines’ growing from the ground, which represent the four main foundries that could be found in the Ilkeston area back in the 1900’s. Across the middle is a shank, used for pouring molten metal in a foundry. The centre of this holds a glass disk, which like the ‘Old Men & Pipes‘ sculpture at King George Gallery is inspired by the ‘fire in the sky’ that was ever present when Stanton was a busy place, and also representing new beginnings.
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Season’s Greetings
Well, it’s nearly here! So I’d like to wish all my followers a very Merry Christmas to wish you all the best for the New Year, and to thank you all for your support and kind comments – it’s always good to know that you like my work!
2013 has been a mixed year – I’ve been involved in some great projects; one working in collaboration with Gavin Darby of frailloop recycled steel sculpture resulting in two permanent sculptures (and recently an exhibition at Erewash Musuem), another working in lots of schools across Ilkeston on a new (to me) technique that I hope to develop personal work from; it’s great to do with children and never fails to illicit a positive response when they see what they have achieved.
It’s also been tinged with sadness towards the end, as my studio share partner and very good friend, Nicola Lidstone is moving on to pastures new. Rachel Carter, a founding member of Shed 2 Studios, who has shown unending support and guidance in my first few years as a professional artist, as well as becoming a very dear friend is also moving on to a bigger, better and brighter future with The Harley Gallery & Workshops.
What this does mean, are changes at Shed 2, which I am excited to see come about – who knows how our new residents will shape our future. Also, I have taken the decision to take over the whole space, which will mean changes here at Dawn Turner Designs too.
I’ve recently invested in new equipment, and the bigger and better laid out space means I will be able to offer larger workshops with a variety of techniques.
The projects I’ve worked on this year, and also having some time *not* making glass have given me lots and lots of ideas, that, due to personal circumstances, I haven’t been able to try out yet.
2014 should see me able put lots of new designs into practice, as well as enabling more people involved in working with kiln fired glass (and maybe other techniques too).
I look forward to sharing my journey with you – see you on the other side!
Dawn
xxx(apologies if you’ve just read all of this over on Facebook!
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Time to Tidy!
It’s that time of year, that means I have to sort out my space – yes, it’s Shed 2 Studios Christmas Open Event.
We will have to wood burner loaded up and a-roaring, we might have a few biscuits to nibble, and of course, our kettle is always on. What this means in reality is for a few days beforehand, I spend ages cleaning and tidying , trying to sort my space ready for display!
I am excited for my future, as I am growing my space – my studio share partner Nicola Lidstone, is moving on, and so I am taking the whole space. This will mean I will be able to offer larger group workshops, and because of the changes, and I can also look at offering different kinds of workshops, not just glass fusing.
Whilst that is great for me, and the future of my business, I am very sad to see Nic go – we’ve been friends for a long while now, having met whilst doing our degree! Not only is Nic leaving, but so is another friend, and mentor, Rachel Carter. Rachel has been so supportive during my time at Shed 2 Studios, helping me in all sorts of ways, but I do wish her the best of look as she moves on to the next chapter in her career with her new workshop at the Harley Gallery and Studios, Worksop – it’s a fabulous place to visit and I know she will do really well but I will miss her!
Adam Leighton is also leaving us, although because he will remain at the University of Derby, I expect I will be remaining in contact with him as I bug them for use of some of their equipment!
Hope you can join us for the Christmas Open Event – as always, there will be new pieces on show from some of the work I have developed this year, some new Christmas decorations just because I have a new toy, and some sale items as I wish to clear out some of my work to make way for the new!
We’re open Friday 29th November (2pm to 8pm) and Saturday 30th November (10am to 4pm)
