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Project blogs

Carol Ramsay

Artist in Residence - New Ferry Butterfly Park

By: Carol Ramsay
Thought I would start a separate blog about the trials and tribulations of my residency at the Butterfly Park. The next 18 months are sure to have highs and lows, maybe even some tears and tantrums Read on…

'Inside the Park'.

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'Smooth Newt Pond'.

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'Entrance to the Butterfly Park'.

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'The only bench on site'.

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'Broken Brick makers table'.

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'Station Underpass leading to the Butterfly Park'.

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'Station Underpass leading to the Butterfly Park'.

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'Dripping mud/clay in the underpass from underneath the actual railway tracks'.

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'butterfly', etched perspex. First trial, no description, just wanted to see if it might work.

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'Smooth Newt', etched perspex. Large Information Board trial

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'Smooth Newt (detail)', etched perspex.

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'twigwam'.

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'ladybird', photograph.

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'yellow ladybird'.

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'First Peacock Butterfly of the Season'.

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'Blue snail'. Bright blue body - fantastic, no idea what type it is but talking to a science bod at a PV one night, he said it may be that it's absorbed copper from the ground and turned blue...must investigate further. 

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'Twigwam', Coppiced Hazel,twine, wire and string. Stage 2 of the twigwam

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'Mating Tortoiseshell Butterflies', Digital Photograph.

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'Botanical Drawing of Comma', pen and ink drawing. The first of my Botanical Drawing that I'm hoping to have etched onto perspex.

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'Dragonfly', Ink drawing.

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'Peacock', Ink Drawing.

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My husband hard at work assembling the wing bench

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my delivery - a wee stack of etched perspex illutrations

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etched dragonfly on perspex.Not great viewing it on a dining room chair background, but you get the idea :)

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railway sleepers and stainless steel.

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'Comma', Etched Perspex and chain.

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'Bench', Railway sleepers and stainless steel.

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'Deforestation'.

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'Our Big Lunch bunting'.

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'Caravan Visitor Centre Plan'.

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'Caravan Visitor Centre Maquette'. Design model for Visitor Centre for New Ferry Butterfly Park. Complete with Lepidoptera Drawers, Deskspace for Workshops, Information Posters/Sheets and Reference Library.

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'One of the many rows of lepidoptera cabinets'.

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'Clean sparkling caravan'.

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'Mobile Allotment sketch'.

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'Sandwich Bag Butterflies'. Some of the butterflies made by the New Ferry School kids.

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'The Planted Mobile Allotment'.

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'New Ferry Butterfly Park Mobile Allotment'.

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'Alison McGovern MP checking out the childrens lepidoptera drawers'.

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'Our Lepidoptera drawers'.

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'Inside the caravan visitor centre.'. Photo: Terry Hayes.

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'One of our first visitors to New Ferry Butterfly Park Visitor Centre.'.

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'Butterfly Park mindmap', pen + ink.

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'New Ferry Butterfly Park Map 2011', Pen + Ink.

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Butterfly Park Map (detail), Pen + Ink.

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My poor book, each book takes such a long time (not to mention sore fingers) to produce that for someone to come along and just tear out all the cutwork was just so sad, the book itself was then closed over and put back in its display place but the ripped paper left scattered all over the caravan.

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The poor vandalised gas lamp :(

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2 page spread of thesis.

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'2 page spread of thesis'.

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'Endangered Habitat cover'.

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Difficult to know what to put into the MA show as all m work is site specific and my site is many miles away.However, I settled on some draings and maps and the caravan visitor centre will be there too.

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Formulating, Planning and Hatching.

By: Carol Ramsay

Formulate [fawr-myuh-leyt] ˈfɔrmyəˌleɪt

Part of Speech: verb

Definition: plan, specify systematically

Read on…

'Scorned', Collage and Charcoal Life Drawing.

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'Desire', Collage and Charcoal Life Drawing.

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'Dum Spiro Spero', Lotto tickets, paper and oak. 'Dum Spiro Spero' Cicero

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'Dum Spiro Spero', Lottery Tickets Paper and Oak.

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Carol Ramsay, 'Dum Spiro Spero', Lotto tickets, paper and oak. 'Dum Spiro Spero' Cicero

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Graduate interview: Carol Ramsay

By: Richard Taylor

With lashings of experience behind her, Carol is all set to embark on her MA straight from 2009 graduation. Alongside part-time work, and bringing up kids she finds time to answer a few questions Read on…

'Piano Concerto No.1 (detail)', 12/06/09.

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'Piano-work in progress'.

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Is blogging for me?

By: Andrew Bryant
Online editor of Artsts talking Andrew Bryant addresses some typical concerns about starting a blog Read on…

Carol Ramsay, 'St.Bride's Well'. See Carol Ramsay's blog 'Post Grad, Pre Artist?'

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Making the most of the Students' community

by: Richard Taylor Read on…

'Piano-work in progress'.

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New Ferry Butterfly Park; Empty Shop Project

By: Carol Ramsay
Continuing on from my previous artist in residence blog with renewed vigour and some actual cash,  the next phase of the Butterfly Park art project will endeavour to take over an empty shop for Read on…

'Steel and Railway sleeper bench'.

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'Busy Open Day at New Ferry Butterfly Park, May 2011'.

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'COMMA (COMMunity Arts) Project'. The Comma is an orange brown resident butterfly with ragged wings. It carries a punctuation mark on the underside of its wings and has been seen in increasing numbers at New Ferry Butterfly Park.

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Post Grad, Pre Artist?

By: Carol Ramsay
Following on from my Degrees Unedited blog. I have now graduated and am embarking upon an MA. Am I still classed as a student as I'm still studying or a 'Real" artist now that I am a Post Read on…

'Piano Concerto No.1 (detail)', Old Music Books & cotton.

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'Water but.....', household objects, 01/10/09. My work in The Harris Museum, Preston. Interactive section of an exhibition curated by Chris Fite-Wassilak.

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'doodled map and books'.

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Music book re-used and recrafted into small sculpture, I have cut windows and doors into the model so that the viewer can look through them and see different pages all at the same time.

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'music star'. Antique Sheet Music re-used and recycled into star sculptures. Hung from the ceiling and blown gently they turn and dance beautifully making the music become watchable rather than heard.

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'Shakesperian Poems'.

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'Shakesperian poems'.

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'Musical Chair'. Now a Finalist in the Eco Art Award run by Liverpool Chamber of Commerce.

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'The beginning of my journey to Sheffield'. These pages of maps will join together with many more, mapping out the whole route with doodles aplenty.

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A-Z books, Sharpie Pen, Pritt Stick.

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A-Z books, Sharpie Pen, Pritt Stick.

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A-Z books.

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'Concerto in C minor'.

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'View from Chalkwell Hall'.

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'Entrance to New Ferry Butterfly park'.

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'The Way In', acrylic on board with found objects. 'The Way In' was made after finding some old keys and door knobs, originally I wanted to just have them all hung on the board but then decided to paint half of them on board and hang the rest alongside, a 3D collage. A homage to doors, I take photographs of old doors in every place I visit, they tell a tale of their own.Accepted into the 2010 Wirral Open Exhibition.

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'Concerto No.1'. At The Lauries Centre with Simon Mack's paintings in the background as part of BlankZero Eye Candy.

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'Shoebox Portfolio'. Recycled antique sheet music folded to hold business cards and photo's of my work alongside sketches. The tags all bear a word that is re-formed, my work entails recycling in many aspects of it, so I have written words beginning with re- that are used in my practice (recycle, reuse, revitalise etc). Using red tags as I found them a few years ago but have not had a use for them until now and red begins with re too 

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'Stereo-tastic', Various instruments, fishing wire, hooks.

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'St.Bride's Well'.

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What next?

By: a-n
Three recent graduates discuss their careers so far and offer advice to artists graduating in 2010. Read on…

Carol Ramsay, 'The Journey (detail)'. From an installation mapping Ramsay’s journey from Wirral to Sheffield using A-Z books as part of the ‘Out of Office’ exhibition at The Electric Works, Sheffield

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Wirral Metropolitan College

By: Carol Ramsay

Studying for Fine Art BA (Hons) based in Wirral and accredited by John Moores University in Liverpool.

Read on…

Carol Ramsay, 'Piano 1', digital photography and photoshop, 8/10/08.

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'Carol Ramsay'.

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'maquette for 'trust'', ink on glass.

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Carol Ramsay, 'Deconstructed hymn book'.

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Carol Ramsay, 'Songbook 1', paper and cotton.

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Carol Ramsay, 'Songbook 2', antique music book, cotton and hooks., 01/12/2008.

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Carol Ramsay, 'Guitar & Violin'.

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Carol Ramsay, 'Songbook I & Radiogram'.

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Carol Ramsay, 'Songbook II'.

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Carol Ramsay, 'Radiogram'.

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Carol Ramsay, 'Small book of poems'.

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Carol Ramsay, 'Small book of poems (detail)'.

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Carol Ramsay, 'Maquette'.

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Carol Ramsay, 'maquette (detail)'.

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'Maquette forSefton Park sculpture'.

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Seaforth A-Z book, 'Carol Ramsay'.

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Seaforth A-Z book in situ, 'Carol Ramsay'.

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'Seaforth A-Z book (photoshop effects)'.

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'Folded music book - 1 of 10'.

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'Elective assessment'.

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'Piano Concerto No 1(detail)'.

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Cut Music book pieces.

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'The now 'infamous' cardboard storage tubes'.

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'One finished book in it's tube'.

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'top view of exploding book in blue'.

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'some of my team of helpers'. getting there....Julie Dodd's cloud hangs patiently above us all...

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'Book 4/10'.

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'My space at the Williamson Art Gallery'.

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'Piano-work in progress'.

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'Setting up at The Williamson'.

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'Looking down on one of the books'.

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'Piano Concerto No.1 (detail)', 12/06/09.

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'Piano Concerto No.1', 12/06/09.

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'Piano Concerto No.1 in the Williamson Art Gallery', 12/06/09.

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'Piano Concerto No.1', July 2009.

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Lepidoptera Drawer at NML World Museum.

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