All things on a roll.

The wheels are on, the oars are in the locks.

Interior space is larger than we thought.

Almost ready for touring around Pendle in 2017.

 

Final Technical Inspection

Daveid installing the vinyl floor covering today with Pi overlooking the finer details.

It’s the final session next week, and we’ll attach the wheels and the oars (acting as handles) in preparation for 2017 and taking it out and about in Burnley and Pendle.

Train of thought

Thanks to the skills of Daveid Derbyshire we now have a bespoke upholstered seat for the wardrobes.

Allan took us on a wonderful train journey across North America from Seattle to Lake Bemidji, we retraced his adventure stories on a map, which helped to bring them to life.

The rubber gloves arrived in the post and they are a perfect fit for a playful installation, which involves trying to complete everyday tasks without being able to see the objects while wearing the gloves.

We had a quick brew to think about what kind of activities we could include in a 6month creative programme next year; painting, drawing, and photography seem popular.

For Good Measure

 

Good to see Daveid dropping in today and catching up with Marc and Allan.

He also measured up for the upholstered seat to be installed inside the wardrobes.

Can’t wait to see how it will turn out and really looking forward to trying it out with a brew.

 

All aboard… the wardrobe!

Today we went back to the age of the steam train courtesy of Peter Handford’s superb recordings from yesteryear. These really are effective in capturing the environment of a time of steam powered locomotives and are perfect for testing out the capabilities of our installation space (inside two old Gentlemans Wardrobes). We piped the sound of approaching steam engines into the wardrobes via wireless speakers and were immediately transported to another place, complete with local bird song and chattering children on distant station platforms.

Alan, being an old hand on the footplate had actually worked on the same routes that Handford had recorded back in the 1960s (the Lickey Incline) and brought back memories of fire, soot, steel and sweat.

Lost and found: superb example of make do and a/mend to provide a very stylish form of transport.

Cafe Chats and Wardrobes

Great to see Alan checking out the wardrobe gallery today, giving it a final inspection before refurbishing the internal seating area. Thanks for brunch Alan.

Things look like they’re finally coming around… ain’t no stoppin’ us now!

Gentlemen’s Space

With some help with the woodwork, we have finally managed to see how it feels to dwell inside the wardrobes, yes they are safely joined together to make one space.

A space for thinking, a space for listening, a space for watching.

We have several ideas for the first installation and its just a matter of time before we take it out into local towns in Burnley and Pendle, with a potential trip to Preston too. We are going to use the interactive piece of sculpture (made from two antique gentlemen’s wardrobes) to engage with members of the public and raise awareness of what it means to be a male carer.

Thanks for the spare wood Daveid, we needed it to strengthen the internal floors, and thanks to Marcus for joining us all the way from the West Coast.

It was good to chat to Diane from CarersLink and I hope that she will pop in again soon to keep us informed of the opportunities available for Male Carers in East Lancashire.

Can U C Pi?

It was great to catch up today with Pi @pjrt and Daveid at the UCLan MA Show. We loved hearing about their inspiration for this latest collection of work. We like all things connected to Pi.

We were also lucky enough to meet the artist Abi Townsend who had made some work about contemporary farming conditions governed by forces beyond their control, this ultimately led to conversations about the price of milk these days.

This Friday at our base at Canal Cottages in Rosegrove is a chance to chat with Diane from CarersLink. Its also the start of our transformation of the Gentlemens Wardrobes into a little exhibition space.

Images from Mick’s Photo Archive

Recently discovered in the vaults of local photographer Mick NSE, we found some amazing photos from some of our day trips including Manchester, Preston and the Birdbox Workshop here in Rosegrove.

Batty Over Bird Boxing

A great session at the Bird Box Workshop with Emma Fielding (and her mum).

A good turn out and everyone learnt so much about our endangered birds and bats.

The open-faced bird box is the future and should be encouraged in every garden from now on. Its quick and easy to make from ‘un-treated’ wood with galvanised nails, and it helps the next generation of young birds to build nests in a more natural site, instead of relying on single holed boxes.

As always, we started off with a brew and some good old fashioned and non-judgemental  conversation in the kitchen, art writer and critic Grant Kester would call it a ‘discursive space’ although I prefer to call it a ‘digressive space’. The conversation today was a great example of how the beauty of social interaction can lead to new understandings of the world we live in, each of us recognising how our consumer habits can impact on the local wildlife and beyond.

In the workshop and guided by Emma, we all managed the simple steps to make our own rugged and natural bird box to take home.

We are meeting next Friday morning at Canal Cottages 10am. Pop in for a brew, if you’re passing.