FRED Lookalike in Avignon October 4, 2006
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A friend saw this in Avignon and thought it looked cool. Bricks have been scraped away to reveal small chambers which locals have used to display various things - some savoury, some less so. Looks a bit like the kind of thing FRED might do…
Installing A Big Blue Tree October 3, 2006
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So, after:
- finally finding someone who wanted a tree on the side of their house
- Paul and Steve managed to find a computer old enough to create file the stencil cutter could use
- Paul managed to eject the Bowls team long enough to lay out the card on the floor
the day finally came when we put up the Willow Tree. It took about 4 hours and was much admired by the dog walkers and nosey neighbours. Les seemed particularly fond of it, which I’m sure you’ll agree is great relief. His dog seemed less certain. We then explained it’s a picture of a tree by a drainpipe. You’re a dog, what’s not to like?
Paul was chuffed to (well, he kept going “hee hee” after we took each bit of cardboard down).
And the rain held off. So what does it look like:
Building the Boar October 3, 2006
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With FRED 2006 now up and running, I thought I’d give some background to some of the 36+ projects going on. Starting with the Boar beside Wild Boar Fell.
over 500 fleeces, mostly swaledale, were used to create the hill drawing. On the Wednesday a team of volunteers from Blackburn aided artist Jan Hicks and fellow FRED artists Helen Fletcher and Steve Messam to get the bulk of the laying out done. Jan had previously marked out a grid of 4 metre squares in blue bailer twine. The fleece was pegged into the ground with bamboo pegs and willow withies. A couple of Llamas helped transport the fleece up the 50 minute hike to the site, the rest being brought up by quad-bike and trailer.
The piece was completed by Jan and Helen the following day. The piece is best viewed in the afternoon when the sun picks up the white fleeces and it positively glows. The best view is obtained by walking up the path to Wild Boar Fell from the Tommy Road. After only 15 minutes walk, the Boar really starts to loom large above. At 120 metres across, the Wild Boar is only the second largest hill drawing in the UK (after the Whipsnade Lion).
