Following in the Footsteps, a Sculpture for Mickleover features four seeds and a large seed pod made from Cor-Ten steel
A seed, part of my latest sculpture installation at Mickleover
The Mickleover Sculpture arrives on the lorry and is lifted by crane into place over the foundations
Murray Park school art commission - as part of my recent commission in Mickleover, I have been working with the pupils of Murray Park to create art from natural materials, taking inspiration from artists such as Andy Goldsworthy and Derbyshire traditions such as Well Dressing.
To mark the end of the project and record its success, the GCSE students were given a mini commission, to design an art installation for the walls of the ADT department which will feature over 100 images of students work.
This is the fantastic winning design which will be manufactured into large art panels to cover the walls.
These two students used the torn sections of paper to create effect by careful arrangement
Ripping and tearing the paper gave the individual pieces texture, curling helped to add depth to the paper art
Using tone and pattern as the brief and nature as inspiration the pupils at Murray Park School created some stunning art works, with this first batch using scissors to cut shapes.
Duo by Ronald Pope as seen at the University of Derby
Missing Sculpture Found - 'Duo' by Ronald Pope
So I had great images of the sculpture when it stood on the Mickleover campus of the University of Derby, but where was it now? A lecturer at the Keddleston Road campus informed me that he had completed an exhibition in the past about the artist, not only that but they still have the sculpture at the University.
I set off to find the sculpture, which took me to the latest campus for the University on Markeaton Street which is the Art, Design and Technology facility. The new building features an internal ‘Street’ a long wide corridor that runs the entire length of the building and is bathed in natural light from the vast expanses of windows. On the second floor the balcony continues this open feel and overlooks the 'Street’, at the end of the second floor balcony where the end of the building is one large span of glass sits the sculpture.
The sculpture stands at just under 6 foot and is in excellent condition, on the images of the sculpture when it stood at the Mickleover campus it appears that a student had lightly carved a smiley face onto the surface of one of the forms, this has since been removed I’m pleased to say. The positioning of the sculpture in front of this large window retains the feel of the sculpture being outdoors as the view outside shows lots of mature trees.
I can’t tell you how excited I felt to be face to face with the sculpture, it really stirred something in me, I’m so happy to be able place a sculpture of my own where once sat a sculpture, and second I would like to incorporate an element from the old sculpture into the new sculpture as a small homage to the sculptor.
Trail of the Missing Sculpture - Found it!
After the first hour in the archives at The University of Derby locating the Mickleover campus, the second hour was just as productive with lots of images coming out of the boxes featuring life at the new campus. There were great images of the students working in classes, enjoying the gym and the pool, the next picture showing a group of students chatting on the lawn had something in the background, could it be the sculpture?
Yes! I had found it, the sculpture was hard to see as the image was small but it was there. The next image out the archive boxes was like hitting the jackpot, a full size image of the sculpture, the sculpture appeared to be made from stone and featured two inter-twinned figures.