 Systems to categorise and organise have interested me for years.
I used to enjoy watching those programmes where an organisational guru would take over someone’s house and after only two days would have installed a wonderful system of shelves, boxes, drawers and index cards. It all looks so simple; just go out and buy lots of special storage boxes and hey presto!
But categorisation of information, documents, images etc is just not simple!
I have lots of boxes in my studio. In some you can work out that they have been categorised by their material say, made from plastic or metal. But materials for sculpture often don't fit neatly into a box, either physically or metaphoricallly.
In my practice there are all types of items. And they all come into the 'category' of, “Interesting and will possibly become part of a Frillip Moolog being one day”.
I take a lot of photographs; my camera is with me everywhere. As I have said before I draw inspiration from a huge range of sources.
It’s great to have a really strong visual memory but having taken the photographs I then need to organise them on my computer. There are folders within folders.
My Visual Research folder has lots of sub-folders;
Furniture, Upholstery, Fun & Weird, Architecture, Interiors, Ambiguous Objects, Shops, Museums, China & Glass, Childhood, Chindogu, Dens, Graffiti, Heaters, Display, Signs, Water Towers, Swedish Stoves and Brushes as just a few of them.
It might be easier to use a tagging system to manage my images but to do this I'd need to store them all in cyberspace. As it is, I look at my images often. As time passes they can be moved from category to category. This happens when I am interested in them for another reason.
You can see that this is a very idiosyncratic and personal filing system.
A few months ago I realised that I was noticing and photographing walls. Before I knew it I was noticing interesting walls at every turn. This is the reticular activation system in practice.
The photo above was taken in a couple of seconds. I just turned round and snapped. And how lucky that everything lined up perfectly!
I think these strange molten rocks used to build the wall in the photo below are actually waste from an old Victorian factory furnace. This was taken as I walked up to the Camden Arts Centre to see the Eva Hesse exhibition earlier this year.
I parked by this next wall when I delivered 'Boris' to the Pitt Studios for the Worcester Open.
This colourful beauty is made from broken slabs. I did look closely and I do believe that they have actually been painted (as opposed to bought pre-coloured).
A labour of love!
This one brings back memories of Richard Woods' "Stone Clad Cottages". (Fermynwoods Contemporary Arts offsite project in 2008.)  This strange specimen was spotted on a visit to the Isle of Wight this Easter. I had just read read Mythogeography, a guide to walking sideways.
Taking a Mythogeographic approach I am tempted to apply some paranoia when imagining how this interesting shape of flaked off render came about.
I like homemade and this wall was built by my Dad just a few years ago.
His drive and zest for life are an inspiration.
Although he is old he won’t let old age or bad legs and back stop him from building walls (and much more besides).
 We found this homemade creation when out doing a Geocache in Staffordshire. I'd describe this as a fun little grotto type of wall embellishment.
This wall makes you stop and ask questions. It is part of the Erasmus Darwin House in Lichfield.
There will be a Frillip Moolog presence in the Erasmus Darwin House 30th Jul- 23rd Aug 2010 as part of 52 Weeks of Art.
This portion of wall is a remnant of the wall built 1296-1321 around the Cathedral Close. The house was built against it and then later in front of it. This shows you a cross section of the wall. It was 6 feet thick! Here's another useful wall.
We discovered this at BlackGang Chine on the Isle of Wight. Black gang Chine "Theme" Park is featured in Bollocks to Alton Towers, one of my absolute favourite books. (It really was a challenge though and after 5 hours I was begging to leave.
It is possible to overdose on tacky!)
 Talking of tacky. I just had to stop the car to take this photo. So a breeze block wall with a few real stone protuberances?
 As I walked round the corner I discovered that once finished the breezeblock will be dressed with swirls of cement.
I just can’t decide how I feel about this. It’s almost, “so disgusting that it’s gorgeous”!
(An expression from my childhood).
And so, coming full circle, here I am back in the underground. A "brick" wall to represent Brixton underground station. A lovely visual pun!
 The Sir Joseph Banks Conservatory in Lincoln… would I like to exhibit there? Yes of course!
The show was called, Meleager’s Garland and it was curated by Anneka French and Rebecca Wombell and took place over the last May Bank Holiday weekend. The name was inspired by the Greek poet Meleager who first assembled an ‘anthology’ of poetry, titled The Garland. The word ‘anthology’ was previously only used to describe collections of plants.
The artist call out mentioned that the curators were looking for artists … “working with ideas related to botany, artificiality and wider issues of ecology and the natural world”.
In truth I draw most of my inspiration from architecture and costume; however, I was exceedingly interested in this non gallery space. I felt confident that "Madeleine" and "Cyril" would look at home in a glasshouse full of tropical specimens and so made some Photoshop images of them in hot house settings to help Anneka visualise this too.
I have mentioned before my interest in non–gallery spaces. I see these as opportunities to grow the audience for my work. I am interested in seeing people’s reactions, especially people who are not expecting to encounter some art. The Arts Council also like non gallery spaces (as their support of the Empty Shops Schemes shows). It is another way that you can grow the numbers of people that your art has “affected” (an essential figure when making an Arts Council funding application.)
Right from the start I was interested not only in the venue but also in its connections with the 18th century.
My interest in 18th century started when I researched Sir John Soane (the “grandfather” of British collectors) when I was writing my degree dissertation.
The Sir Joseph Banks conservatory is full of specimens of plants which Banks collected on his travels. He rose to fame after travelling with Captain Cook on his first voyage to the South Pacific in 1768. Sir Joseph Banks was one of the most influential men of his time, advising King George the third and being a key figure in setting up Kew Gardens and also the development of Australia as a colony.
I am interested in collectors and I am interested in stories and so Sir Joseph Banks is definitely of interest to me!
When Anneka French came to my studio to meet "Madeleine" and "Cyril" in the flesh she asked whether they had any story linking them and I was enthusiastic to have the excuse to spend a little time fantasising about what relationship they might possibly have.
It is not always good to be too specific about my thoughts on the beings and their possible personality traits, but for this event I gave myself the green light.
By writing a set of 6 postcards between Madeleine and Cyril I was able to weave a gentle story which touches on travel, discovery, botany, history and of course alludes to the beings’ personalities and possible relationship.
 I plundered my collection of postcards and selected some that my grandmother had sent me. Most were from 1970. I think I was drawn to these especially because of their kitchness.    You don’t get postcards with cardigans like this anymore!  The two friends who helped with the handwriting were chosen as I felt that the style of their hand writing reflected the personalities that I wanted to suggest.
And finally some Photoshopping to ensure that the stamps, dates and franking were all “authentic”…
Complete sets of the 6 postcards are available to buy for £2. Postage is FREE!
Click here to BUY.
Sir Joseph Banks played a huge role in raising the profile of botany. He also corresponded with many influential thinkers of his time.
I was delighted to discover that he corresponded with Erasmus Darwin (Charles Darwin’s grandfather) as more of my Frillip Moolog beings will be occupying various rooms within The Erasmus Darwin House in Lichfield later this summer. This will give me another opportunity to develop another postcard narrative. Artists who took part in Meleager’s Garland were myself (Kirsty E Smith), Claire Brewster, Helen Snell, Andrew Bracey, Alexis Rego, Alex pearl, Liam Herne, Julia Hembrow and Stan Lenartowicz, Pamina Stewart, Richard Thornton, Sarah Nicholson, Rebecca Wombell, Zoe Maxwell, Kyle Kirkpatrick, Ruth Pigott, James Wilkinson and Katrina Naiomi. The exhibition artwork was by George Hardy. When deciding on the placing of each artwork Anneka and Rebecca made full use of the wonderfully atmospheric conservatory.
 Helen Snell’s tree boats were perfect sailing amongst the coy carp. Some of them absolutely HUGE monster sized fish! They are in fact a species called Fish Zilla; the world's largest type of Koi.Claire Brewster’s paper cut birds (cut from old maps) were perfect placed within the foliage of this "Paper Flower" Bougainvillea.
 Stories are what I thrive on; and what better than a story which starts with a teenager in Sheffield making a caravan. Scavenging for materials in post war Britain he used Ponds skin cream jars for the light fittings. (I remember that cream, it was always really cold. I used to put a dab on my nose when I was a little girl messing around with my Nan’s toiletries.)David Mellor is the teenager that I am describing. He went on to earn the title of "Cutlery King". But he designed so much more than just cutlery. When I was 13 I spent a weekend in London with my Mum. It was one of those special mother and daughter weekends. We went to the V&A and to Liberty’s of Regent Street, we saw Andrew Lloyd Webber’s "Evita", we ate some very posh sausages at The Greenhouse in Mayfair (It was John Tovey’s restaurant at that time) and we also went to David Mellor’s Kitchen shop. It was 1977 so it would have been his Sloane Square shop.  Photo by Phil Sayer
The things that you accept as normal when you are a child… I accepted that when out with my mum we went to kitchen shops (usually spending the most time in the china department). My own children know that when out with me there is a very strong possibility that there is an unusual museum nearby or an art gallery at least. I stored away all the memories from that London weekend. It was special; we lived in Central Scotland and it was my first real trip to London. When I got married I was 24 and I would have loved to have put David Mellor cutlery on my wedding list. I think my favourite design at that time was “Flute”. Sadly we couldn’t agree; I think that it came down to the fact that we preferred to have two spoon shapes one for soup and one for desserts. (One of Mellor’s ambitions was to refine and simplify and so he had worked on devising the fewest items of cutlery actually needed…. You don’t see fish knives and forks in a David Mellor range).
 "Flute" designed in 1983. Photo by Pete Hill.
I have now been married for 22 years. And David Mellor’s career has been a notable one. Visiting London Design Week events I still drool over his designs. My favourite now? Possibly "Hoffmann". David Mellor was an advocate of Modernism and "Hoffman" has been described as being, to some extent, an homage to early 20th Century mid-European metalwork.
I am also fascinated by people’s homes and how they live, so what a wonderful book “At Home with the Makers of Style”. Reading this book back in 2006 I studied each photograph. David Mellor is one of the designers featured in this book. It was then that I read about his Round Building cutlery manufacturing site and home in Hathersage, near Sheffield. So this Easter we made it. The trip was first planned to go to buy some “posh sandpaper” (Micromesh finishing cloth) from Craft Supplies. I am finally finishing a being(sculpture) called "Rachel". She’s a cross between Barbara Windsor and Mae West… so of course the sandpaper needs to be posh! Hathersage is only 3 miles from Craft Supplies so obviously the time had come to visit The Round Building!
The building was designed by Sir Michael Hopkins. It was built (1990) on the foundations of an old circular Gas Storage container and has been described as minor masterpiece of modern architecture. Although my photos don't show it it sits in exceedingly beautiful countryside.
 You can walk round the factory and watch the cutlery being made. Mellor was a designer who was completely involved with the making of his designs. Although he introduced a lot of technology he still retained the handmaking skills and hand finishing of each item. He admitted to being a perfectionist.
 I find this machine really sculptural. I get inspiration for my Frillip Moolog beings from an ecclectic range of sources.
Not only that but he used his own workforce when building, renovating or fitting out his premises. Of course you are going to feel pride and belonging if you actually contributed to the making of the building that you work in.
There are 480 Finnish plywood roof panels to make the roof of the Round Building; these too were made by Mellor’s own workforce.
“Mixing concrete and foundations on a bitterly cold Sunday was a typical situation which I learned to expect….working with him you surge forward on a tidal wave of unbounded enthusiasm and there is never any question of defeat”. Ron Carter furniture designer and old friend from RCA talking of his involvement with the design and shop fitting work on the Sloan Square shop.
Yes this is what you’d expect from such a name in design history; drive, passion and self belief.
Park Lane was the first of Mellor’s live work buildings. A point to note is that this building was designed (1960) with two thirds of the space devoted to design studio and manufacturing workshop and just one third for living and sleeping space. (The same proportion that he divided his time.) His bed actually slid out into the living room from under from under the kitchen work units!
Yes a driven and committed man I would have loved to have met him.
 Recognise the salt and pepper set in the left of this photo? "Fanfare" condiment set was designed by David Mellor in 1961 and has been copied the world over.
Another game that I enjoy is “How Many Degrees of Separation?” I love when I can make connections and often during a chance conversation you can discover that you are more closely connected to someone than you might have believed.
Sitting in the cafe area within the David Mellor museum I discovered that the gentleman sitting beside me was Brian Edwards, an old friend of David Mellor’s. On realising that I was more interested in David Mellor than my posh sandpaper he revealed that he had known David Mellor from the early days of his career. Infact he had interviewed David Mellor for one of his very first design jobs.
Brian Edwards described his business as being office workstations specialising in Danish and Scandinavian designs. Now that I realise that he owns Shape Posture Seating I realise that I could have mentioned that I owned a kneeling stool back in the 80’s. Lots of student studying was done on it.
And also my own very early exposure to Danish design; my memories of eating Open Sandwiches at the Danish Design Centre in Glasgow. These were trips with my Nan and my mum I was very young but I definitely soaked up those sensory experiences.
Brian owns a set of David Mellor "Pride" cutlery. He started collecting it when he got married.
What a wonderful name; "Pride".
David Mellor was still a teenager when he first designed it and it went into production while he was still a student at RCA. It has now been in production for over 50 years!
 Press plates for making "Pride" cutlery.
Brian Edwards was having lunch with Keith Tyssen. He introduced Keith as one of the country’s leading designers in silverware.
It was a funny feeling, I was so excited to have the chance to speak to these old friends of David Mellor’s (Keith Tyssen was quick to mention that David Mellor had given him his first “leg up” by giving him free access to use the studio space at Park Lane when he first graduated) but I didn’t want to sound too gushy. People can get the wrong idea when I get excited!
They both spoke fondly of their friend; sadly David Mellor died last year. But how lovely that they can still meet, to discuss design, appraise architecture and have a lovely lunch surrounded by reminders of their old friend and colleague.
And finally how to make this connection even closer?
I asked if Keith knew Christine Rew, Art Gallery and Museums Manager at Aberdeen Art Gallery (Her dad and my dad were best friends from their Glasgow schooldays.)
Aberdeen has a very impressive collection of silverware and actively invests in work by contemporary makers so it was no surprise that Keith has met Christine. Yes he has work in Aberdeen Art Gallery’s collection.
So not bad for a spur of the moment trip for some posh sandpaper!
 Examples of David Mellor's designs for street furniture: traffic lights, pedestrian crossing equipment, waste bins, the square letterbox and bollards amongs others. So certainly not "just " the Cutlery King. David Mellor's designs are all around us. He has had a huge impact on our British visual culture.
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Systems to categorise and organise have interested me for years.
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