Chainsaws, glass, paint, coins and Elmo

The title of this blog lists my favourite things about the Sculpture and Art fair I attended with my Husband at Hylands Park in Chelmsford, this Sunday. The main attraction at the fair was the chainsaw carving competition - England versus Germany! Over the course of the weekend the craftsmen carved their masterpieces out of large chunks of wood creating stunning sculptures. The highlight for most people was when the 12 carvers all participated in a speed carving competition in the central arena. It is amazing what these talented individuals made in just 30 seconds. All of the sculptures were auctioned off at the end of the day - I wish I had been able to afford to purchase one of these original and exquisite piece of art.

A stunning Eagle sculpture carved using a chainsaw

 Work in progress

 One of Simon Hedgers Celtic creations check out his website http://www.simonhedger.com/

 A German landscape

 One of my favorite pieces of the day, a stunning story time chair. This would have looked so nice in my back garden. Unfortunately I did not find out the name of the person that carved this.

 I was really pleased to find a Bob Ross workshop at the fair. Although he may not be everyones cup of tea and some people frown on the teaching methods of the late Mr Ross's accessible painting style (you may have seen one of his famous TV shows - The Joy of Painting?), I think these workshops are a fantastic method of building up confidence in amateur painters. Led by a qualified Bob Ross instructor these workshops teach budding new artists how to mix paint, apply paint to the canvas, what tool to use for what job, how to use thick and thin paint and how to build an interesting composition. There is not a lot of freedom in these session to use your own ideas, colours and imaginations but once you have the technique mastered - the world is yours!!! For more information on Bob Ross have a look on the website http://www.bobross.com/

 A classic Bob Ross style painting

 E & M Glassblowing studios provided not only a collection of beautiful and very technical pieces of glass work for exhibition and sale - but also a demonstration on glass blowing. Ed and Margaret Burke started their business in the 1980's and now sell their work all over the world. I really liked the presentation of their demonstration, which was performed by their son. With a large screen above the demonstration space, they discussed the history of glass making, techniques, their successes and then used the screen to project the actual glass blowing demonstration for all the viewers to see clearly. For more images of their amazing and beautiful glass work have a look on their website http://www.emglass.co.uk/

 This craftsman created stunning pieces of jewellery using old coins. Images were meticulously cut out of the coins using a very simple saw which can be seen clearer in the image below. Some of the coins were covered in enamel to add a touch of elegance to objects that we have rattling around in our pockets everyday.

 Michelle Eve creates these spectacular pieces of jewellery using beads, polymer clay and jewellery fixtures. As those of you that have followed my blog will know I am a huge Alice in Wonderland fan and have been creating come papercraft images based on Alice in my sketchbook. I really enjoyed the fun element that Michelle puts into her work and the high level of detail. Each piece can take up to 6 hours to produce and all are handmade. Michelle's stall was filled with scrumptious Bertie Bassets shapes earring, bourbon biscuits, gummy bear, jammy dodgers the list goes on. If you like something out of the ordinary or are looking for an unusual gift I urge you to look at Michelle's website http://www.hmbm.co.uk/

However I could not resist buying these brilliant Elmo earrings!!!

These pictures just represent a small selection of the amazing craft and art that was on display at Hylands Park. Hylands Park is also the home of the Stable Visitor Centre where a group of resident artists are supported by Chelmsford Borough Council. The studios are open to the public Sundays and Mondays 10am-5pm. Artists based at the studios include Andrea Neale, Jane Davey, Lynne Sharpe, James Wilkinson and Mona Marnell.
Hylands park is open everyday from 7:30am and boasts 574 acres of park lands which includes a recreational ancient woodland, grassland, lakes, pond and gardens. For more information have a look on http://www.livingheritagecontemporarycrafts.co.uk/