2013-14

Heavy Plant Crossing is now available to book for new expeditions in gardens, festivals and event. Call 07977997609

 

Mid Summer - will see the the Plant and Julia undertaking an exciting expedition through the National Trusts Wallington Estate in Northumberland on June 20th-21st as part of  the Festival of North East 2013.

Julia invites visitors to join her and her Plant on an expedition through Wallington Hall’s woodlands and gardens.  It is a plant-finding expedition with a difference.

On the first day she will be building her ‘plant’ and setting off with the estate map into the depths of the East wood to locate and closely examine trees with intriguing habits and characteristics such as spongy  bark and giant leaves that she has heard about through idiosyncratic Trevelyan Tree Book.

She will suggest the  origins of significant finds and whether they might have arrived as seed from other plant finders travelling the world or cuttings from famous gardens nearer to home during the past 250 years.
 

On the second day the expedition will travel into the interior of the Wallington Estate into the prized Walled Garden, to enjoy the vast variety of plants in this protected terrain,  to revel in the colours and forms of the exotic plants in the micro climate of the Conservatory. And to finally ceremonially peg down a cutting from her unusual  Plant in the nursery beds of the garden before re tracing the expedition route.

Original plant-finding expeditions were supported by the Trevelyan family, different members of which were passionate about the garden and plants  at their Wallington home. Charles Trevelyan was also committed to opening up the countryside to people and gave Wallington Hall to the National Trust

The event is part of the  WALK ON: Walking Art Northumberland  an     arts event organised and funded by VARC Visual Arts in Rural Communities

 

Washed Up

In my continual 'look out' for interesting materials to recycle into my Plant I have been struck by the rubbish I have found on the beaches along our coast and intend to somehow use this washed up debris to make work which will ultimately be recycled .  This film clip brings home the pervasiveness of our wasteful society.



The first stage of my next recycling project is taking a closer look at the materials.

Rotating Flowerheads - winning feature ?

A recent development in the plants evolution has been the configuring of flower heads that rotate in the wind, inspired by fans from car radiators and office fans.To do this I have devised a simple loose shaft and split pin system to connect the reclaimed fan elements to the plant stems. 

After a walk with the plant in a stiff breeze where the larger bi-coloured flower head hurtled round behind me, I am confident this dynamic cultural detail will impress the judges.

 

















Who knows if a breeze picks up at Chelsea next week the rotating flower heads could clinch the ‘Plant of the Year' trophy!

Last search - on the streets

With a need for last minute additions to the recycling piles I decided to trek west to Manchester to visit a friend and check out unwanted and abandoned objects of the city. 

A Bank holiday is a good day to search skips which have been filling up over the weekend with discarded shower fixings, outgrown toy table legs and an old 45 record, perfect.

All finds are now sorted and noted in the studio,ready for
selection and assembling.

Selection decisions

With only two weeks to go before I will be  entering the plant in the RHS Chelsea 2012 Plant of the Year, I am making crucial final decisions as to which elements of the plant work best to gain those all important points. 


The black poly pipe stem structure definitely supports the multi flower head form well and allows for the plant to be reconfigured easily as it hybridizes away.


The intense shiny black stems and the grid leaves, make a bold dramatic effect, to set off the flowers, unusual and rare in the botanical world. 





The only other plant I know of coming close to this colour is Ophiopogon Nigrescens





 

Tens of flower heads are being trialed - assembled from black plastic cogs,fans, with red electrical wire stamens.



Today's studio decisions will help me begin to classify the plant and fill in the all important CFS FORM 19, to enable me to enter Chelsea.

Notation

As all good plant finders, I am collating and recording the components I have collected, noting the date found, collected or purchased , the location they came from , their condition, any particular ideas re use etc..

Reclaimed materials from the 

House of Objects NE12

Reclaimed scaffolding poles and hangers N48

Donated unused poly pipes and fittings NE48

Selection - deconstruction

The vast array of donated and found materials have now been sifted through and interesting components with potential for the plant selected out and sorted out into piles and boxes of similar objects. Metal& plastic tubes, wheels, grommets, springs hoses, unidentifiable moldings etc

Objects where deconstructed to reclaim special elements such as the 1980’s spiral pram wheels, so suggestive of  the heads of sunflowers.

A hot air balloon inflation fan....