Uppertunity & Dudhope Castle sculpture trail workshop

On a wet Wednesday 5th December, community artist and designer Lauren Herd was welcomed by participants and staff of Uppertunity to their Dudhope Castle space.

Lauren was asked to produce a plan for a sculpture project as part of the Dudhope Castle garden trail development. Instigated by Uppertunity, the project is managed by artist Elaine Maher and these two new sculptures will be one of a number of exciting creations soon inhabiting the garden space.

To start off the design process the artist led a collage workshop, designed to engage all levels of artistic ability. Participants were asked to take inspiration from the feathered former residents of the castle aviary; colourful peacocks. Lauren prepared peacock feather shapes in wood and participants explored the different colours and shapes of reclaimed, recycled and repurposed materials from the scrap store to achieve their desired aesthetic. Plastic tokens, fabrics and sticky backed plastic film proved popular materials; some participants preferring to stick to the jewel-toned natural peacock colours of blue and green whilst others opted for a rainbow of contrasting hues and textures. I think you will agree each design is both striking and unique.

These collaged artworks will help inform the design of the peacocks sculptures in the next workshop, when participants at Uppertunity will be introduced to how to work with more challenging recycled materials. The outdoor nature of the sculpture means it's materials must be hardy and weatherproof such as golf club off cuts, drinks cans, food tins, jar lids, plastic bottles and a plethora of items from the Scrap Store. Production of the final pieces will commence in the new year and installed in time to celebrate the gardens’ fantastic new art trail.