Live, Laugh Love - Working title

This weekend I have spent some time working on sculptures for the A127 art trail in September... yes I know, time is ticking!!! As I have often mentioned I love working with paper and I am especially interested in the quality of newspaper as a sculpture medium. For these pieces I am experimenting with the paper bowl technique used at a recent workshop for Access Art in Cambridge. I want to explore how these units can be manipulated and linked together. The idea that something that is easily discarded, thrown away or used to line a cat tray can be made into a thing of beauty, appeals to me. For the first time in a long while I am not sure where these pieces are taking me. I have ideas of the basic forms and am enjoying watching the pieces manifest themselves, grow and take on their own form. There is a lot of autobiography in my work and sitting writing the initial thought process evokes a personal response to life situations that I face at the moment. I use my art work to explore emotions, relay observations and discuss issues faced in day to day life. I am very lucky to be part of an extremely strong and close family, who unfortunately are facing a brutal battle against Cancer - My intention for this series is to explore family bonds, emotions, fears and hopes. This series is titled "Cell story" , the piece pictured below "Live, Laugh, Love".

 A series of units made ready to be worked on, these units are made

with rolled pieces of newspaper spiralled together

 Black acrylic paints has been used to bond the paper together and help to keep the form of the sculpture. PVA glue can work just as well.

 The three sections of the sculpture start to take form

 This is the general idea for the finished piece in it's raw form. The rolled newspaper produces a stunning finish to the sculptures which I think I will explore in additional sculptures.

The three units with their undercoats of white acrylic paint.

 I am still planning the final design for which I am planning a trip to the Tate Modern to have a look at some of Fiona Rae's, Jasper Johns and Chris Ofili's work for inspiration.

Read all about it- some good can come from newspapers!

 Life can get pretty hectic and busy at times and we need to remind ourselves to take time out and de-stress. Today, at Burwash Manor, the public had the opportunity to do just that with the paper bowls making workshop run by myself (Lisa Smith) as part of the Festival of Making for Access Art.

During the day passersby dropped in and learnt how to put to good use their old newspapers. Using a very simple method of rolling bits of paper using a tube and then coiling; people of all ages were able to successfully produce their own paper bowl.

I loved the air of calm and experimentation within the marquee. People experimented with the shapes of their bowls and discussed other projects that could be made out of the bowls such as layering them to make Christmas trees, gluing them on top of each other to make space ships, making them as gift baskets ... the list went on.

This activity is lots of fun, affordable and accessible to all. All you need is a newspaper, a glue stick and something to roll the newspaper up with such as a balloon stick, large straw - even a ruler. It is a great activity for fine motor skills, co-ordination and dexterity - plus a great confidence booster. But be warned - this can get addictive! Many of the people that popped into the marquee only planned to make a small bowl and found that their bowls kept growing and growing.

The rain didn't put anyone off joining in and even Cambridge radio came alone to find out all about the fantastic opportunities Access Art provide to the public. To find out how we got on have a look at the pictures below.

 Rolling the newspaper around the plastic tube to make the building units for the bowls

Me demonstrating how to roll the paper

 Coiling the newspaper ready for making the bowl. Father and daughter work as a team

 Adding points of interest and personalising the bowl with extra detail

 Even Cambridge radio came along to find out about the Festival of Making with

 Access Art and to learn how to make paper bowls

 Finally Painting the bowls using acrylic paint, see some of the fabulous finished items below

 The proud owner of this beautifully blended bowl shows off the finsihed product

 Stunning lavender bowl

My examples of painted paper bowls on display

There are still more events taking part at Burwash manor as part of the Festival of Making. If you have not been along yet have a look on the Access Art website and find out what creative fun you can get up to http://www.accessart.org.uk/

To find out more about my work have a look on my website http://www.lisasmith.uk.com/