Wednesday 29 June 2011

Top 5 Garden Pests in New Exhibition

The plates are finally out of the kiln and have completed a safe journey of 305 miles to Kestle Barton Gallery in Cornwall where they'll be part of the 'In Abbundance' exhibition from 2nd July - 29th August.


So if your in the area, pop in and see them, i'll be making a visit at the end of the exhibition while im camping in Cornwall later this summer.

Otherwise here they are.....


Garden Pest no.1 Viburnum Beetle
'Reduces foliage to lacework'





Garden Pest no.2 Slugs and Snails
When they crawl over copper their slime creates a toxic reaction which shocks the snail; 'Snails detest copper'



Garden Pest = no.3 Cushion Scale
A defoliating bug which excretes honey-dew producing a thick black sooty mould on leaves




Garden Pest = no.3 Chafer Grubs
Grubs hatch in soil of lawns which attract larger animals such as foxes, crows and badgers who dig up lawns to feast on the grubs




Garden Pest no.5 Harlequin Ladybird
Larger East Asian species, thought to be killing of native species
'Tent to overwinter indoors, making a nuisance of themselves'






Tuesday 7 June 2011

Flower and Vegetable Show

I am currently working on a series of pieces for an exhibition at Kestle Barton Gallery in Cornwall. The exhibition is called In Abundance and is based on a tradition flower and vegetable show.


There were 6 categories you could submit work into and I chose Insect Life, but added a Katie touch by changing it to Insect Life and Death.

I'm currently in the final stages of making a series of 5 plates that commemorate the TOP 5 GARDEN PESTS of 2010, as stated by the Royal Horticultural Society, the plates share some of the weird and wonderful facts I discovered while researching and ways to deter these perilous pests...

for example - when a slug or snail crawls over copper, its slime reacts with the metal causing a toxic reaction and shocking the snail!

I'm also doing some illustrations inspired by delightful historic pesticide advertisements such as 'SLUG DEATH' "better than arsenic", but illustrating todays non-chemical methods of pest control.

Heres some bits of artwork for the plates... photos of the real things to follow when they're done. As long as they don't crack/explode/severely warp in the kiln (TOUCH WOOD!) they are in the glaze firing as I type.

The foxy is a personal fav (he's on the Chafer Grub plate (Garden Pest equal no.3), as larger animals like foxes and badgers and crows oh ah, did up the lawn to have a munch on them).






Silkworms Ink Illustrations

Also in my blogging absence I did a spot of illustration for Silkworms Ink, an online chapbook of poetry and creative writing.

I illustrated 2 poems for their 50th Chapbook, some rather (if I may say so myself) delightful pheasants and a ghostly mirror.

Check them out alongside the poems at http://www.silkwormsink.com/chapbook_50.htmland see how many pheasants you can spot!







Adu Dhabi Cakestands for Undergrowth Design


Been a while since I updated... in the meantime, in the month of March I was working on some cakestand bases for Tina Tsang of Undergrowth Design (who I work part time for normally) for a shop opening in Abu Dhabi.

Tina design the cakestands as makeshift ones to stand in place as her original designs wouldn't be complete in time for the shops opening... this is where I stepped in to make 15 bases quickly and cheaply. We then sprayed half of them gold ("very Abu Dhabi") and stuck vintage plates on the top.