ARTISTS TALKING

# 21 [2 December 2010]

The residency at the park is still ongoing. I had a great summer there, just got too busy to blog...bad artist.

My last blog was about the Big Lunch, which in fact turned out to be a Little Lunch but a very enjoyable little lunch. I met some great people who live local to the park and who wanted to get involved more actively.

Unfortunately then I got too busy with work to do all the workshops etc that I wanted to do so plans changed a bit. I used my time over the summer to get to know the park better, the people better and learn a bit about insects and plants to boot.

Park closes October to May so now is my time for research, planning and soon....making.

We had our AGM this week and though we still don't know if we can stay on the site, the fight is still ongoing with the landowner, court dates keep getting changed but I'm still holding out hope. The Butterfly Park is magical, it has so many amazing qualities and for it to end now seems so very wrong so hope is what keeps all the volunteers going.

At the meeting I put forward my ideas for the rest of this year and they seem to be well received. There's a really small pot of money from a sponsor that can be used towards the project which will be very useful.

The plans for this year involve a mobile allotment/trailer with A-frame to tow around schools/community centres to promote the park and to do planting/growing workshops with edible plants that attract butterflies/bees etc.

Secondly will be a refurbished caravan,stripped out and set up as a mobile visitor centre with a twist.

The twist being that as it is a 'test' product, to evaluate the need (or not) for a visitor centre on site. I'll be asking people to write in a comment book about the need for a place to sit and reflect, read perhaps enjoy a warm drink.  

The temporary mobile visitor centre will have a library made up of books about birds/insects/plants etc and a further section with artists books (also butterfly/insect based)

Museum-esque Lepodoptera specimen drawers filled with butterflies but hand made by local children. 

Information sheets, leaflets, colouring sheets, mask and wing making kits. 

Small workshops for  up to 4 people can be held.

Also, I'll be again curating a small art trail and asking for proposals for this soon. As the Butterfly Park is such a small charitable organisation there's no money to offer artists, the sad state of affairs in todays economy but they have agreed that we can use a part of the small sum we received as a grant to have a peoples choice prize for the favourite artwork awarded at the end of the summer. Likely to only be something up to £100 if it happens but I think it's really lovely that they have offered this.

Sunday 8th May 2011 will be our  grand opening event. Hope to make it even bigger and better than last year.

# 22 [12 January 2011]

Good to see the image I used in my last blog on the front page of Blog Topics, it doesn't say it's from my blog and it's not my image but is beautiful non the less and is a lovely example of archiving.

The plans are coming along nicely now. I been making some collage work to get me back making art with the butterfly park in mind rather than just making plans, have also drawn up plans for the caravan visitor centre and started to make a maquette.

Need to speak to my friend about if/when I can still have her caravan to start the revamp.

I've posted a call for submission on the Art in Liverpool website and on the facebook page for the butterfly park to start the ball rolling with this years art trail.

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=112509052095...

I've arranged a meeting with the head of Entomology at Liverpool World Museum to show him the plans for the visitor centre and to ask for his input with all his knowledge and expertise also. Quiet excited about that.

I've emailed the local schools with propositions for workshops to make butterflies for the Lepodoptera specimen drawers. Also have to try and buy/make some kind of drawer unit.

Tis all go in Butterfly Land.

# 23 [14 January 2011]

Made a very small 3D cardboard caravan maquette of my Visitor Centre Design. 

Has a very Blue Peter quality to it I think, quite proud of that. Grateful I watched so much of it as a child.

All workshop proposals are now also written, hope the schools/groups are up for it now.

# 24 [24 January 2011]

I made a visit to World Museum Liverpool last week and met the Entomology Curator. 

It's an astonishing place, row upon row upon row of lepidoptera cabinets, each with multiple drawers in. Beautiful. 

I could have spent all day there, they left me alone there to take photographs (ohh sooo many photographs)  but unfortunately due to an untimely attack of Sciatica I was left having to try and stand up without letting the whole department know my back had gone then casually hobble out of the building a bit earlier than I would have liked.

However, it did give me a good sense of the amount of work and commitment that has gone on to have such an amazing collection. It's also made me more excited to get going now.

Still waiting to hear back from local schools, you'd think with an email entitled 'New Ferry Butterfly Park FREE ART WORKSHOPS' that I might get some response wouldn't you? 

# 25 [26 January 2011]

Two schools got back to me this week with a yes to doing workshops, meeting with one of them next week and potentially a third soon too.

Good News, be great to have the local kids involved as then they will bring their families to the park over the summer to show them their work (I hope) 

I'm now persusing grant application forms.....eeek

# 26 [3 February 2011]

I've had a great week. Been contacted by Liverpool Community College, their tourism course are interested in re-designing some of our Butterfly Park paraphernalia. leaflets, guides etc so it looks like I will be working with them a lot in the coming months which is great.

A local secondary school is arranging a site visit in May with some year 9 students to make land art sculptures and to help them decide whether to choose Art as one of their 'options', oh  how I remember that age, it felt like such a huge decision way back then.

Also the (very) local Primary school are on board, had a really productive meeting there this morning and have set up some workshops, a site visit and an assembly (eek). The headmistress is very keen and was blown away by the plans for the park, though I have offered to do all the workshops for free she's given me details of a small grant we can jointly apply for to maybe pay for all the materials and even my time, which would be amazing. 

Most Excited as I'm picking up the caravan this week (Thanks Julie ) and can spend time taking it apart this weekend.

# 27 [10 February 2011]

Well I didn't get to pick up the caravan, too rainy....but hopefully this weekend.

I did go to the Butterfly Park (in my lunch hour) to meet with the Community College students and tell them a bit about the project before they went on a guided tour courtesy of Paul + Hilary whilst I hot footed it back to work.

I'll arrange to go into the college post half term to do a presentation to them all.

They finish their course in May so it's great timing for them and us to have work we can use at the opening on 8th.

Popped along to an area forum meeting this week covering the whole of New Ferry and Bromborough, there is some 'empty shop' money available that I'm going to apply for, well.....someone's got to get it and I think we could make a really positive space for local people to visit and become part of. 

I've started the proposal, next meeting is tomorrow so I'm hoping to get to that. I've a Sicky kid at the moment though so if he's not better by tomorrow that might put the kybosh on things.

Missed out on a project tutorial at Uni today as I had to look after him. 

It's so much harder being a student/worker and parent sometimes.

Wouldn't swap it mind :)

# 28 [21 February 2011]

I have finally taken possession of the caravan!! I am so excited, can't actually believe I'm so excited over an algae covered 1960's 2berth caravan but there you have it.

I'll be spending the back end of this week with a jet washer.

It is very cute, bijou I believe the right word is and it's a beautiful shape, curvy with lumps and bumps, I like that :)

I know I'm going to strip the inside clean but at the moment It has some lovely original features, as they say on Homes Under the Hammer.

A real gas lamp!!!

A lovely little glass cabinet, might try to salvage that.

The tiniest toilet cubicle, I think you could have only used it of you were 5'5" on a bucket. They made this for small people, now bear in mind that my lovely husband who will doing most of the hard labour is 6'5" and I myself am 5'10" this is going to be a challenge!

Did I say I was excited?

# 29 [1 March 2011]

I spent the best part of a full day jet washing and who knew - the caravan is indeed white!!

I'm now at the stage of wondering whether to paint it a jolly eyecatching colour or leave it white, theres a strip down the side perfect to put a vinyl sign with the Butterfly park name on and I could get vinyl's of my drawings to go onto the white van which might be more inkeeping.

I've won quite a few old butterfly books on ebay now, really do need to get to more charity shops though. As I'm self funding everything I have a limit of £3 each on books but I do seem to have found some real beauties within that price range. 

These will all be used as part of the little library within the centre, some to make into artists books for display purposes and some to use as part of the mini reference library itself.

I'm going to Liverpool Community college in the next 2 weeks to give a presentation to the tourism students who will be designing paraphernalia and re-branding the butterfly park as a centre for tourism. I'm really quite excited to see what we can all come up with to be honest and hoping it will be something that is ultimately useable and not just project based for the benefit of the course.

# 30 [14 March 2011]

i posted all this in my MA blog rather than this one by accident so for the sake of continuity I'm reposting it.

I keep referring back to this blog for my course work and don't want to miss bits out, apologies for anyone who read it twice but I'll add a nice photo of the sparkling clean caravan too. My fabulous (tall) husband managed to reach up top and clean the roof, it took him all afternoon!!

RPT:

Best laid plans got scuppered due to vile illness , been off work and off working for this project all week. 

I officially hate being ill. 

I do not do it well, my creative thinking vanished! 

In the midst of this, just as I began to feel 'slightly'  human I had to take a group of school children on a tour of the park, pre arranged ages ago so had to go.

It went really well, the kids were all so polite and very interested, they followed me around listening intently and asking lots of questions. We talked a bit about the visitor centre that they will be making work for. I go into their school on 24th to do an assembly and discuss all this in detail with the rest of the kids.

Then because I'd been out in the rain, I got ill again :(

I did however manage to speak with my old lecturer at Wirral Met college and they've agreed to loan me one of their old plan chests for the duration of the summer. I'll re-furb it into a lepidoptera cabinet for the visitor centre saving a small fortune not having to actually buy one, major bonus staying friends with other creatives.

The entries are in for the Butterfly Art trail, some really interesting ones amongst them. I'll be presenting to the team this week (pending my feeling better) and looking for a decision on who to invite to join with us this year. Very excited.