Island 2000 Trust Blog

As part of the ‘No Barriers’ project we’ve commissioned artist and photographer Tim Johnson to take a look ‘behind the barriers’. Over the past couple of months Tim has been exploring the special qualities of a ‘no go zone’, a large plot of land left behind for nature to re-colonise, before the re-development of East Cowes claims it back.

Tim comments:
“I’m fascinated by the way nature is creeping back over the relics and remains of human habitation and industry. Although I’m a resident of Cowes I don’t know the area contained before its transformation - so I’m coming with fresh eyes wondering what the rubble and remains once were. Garden steps up to missing conservatories, park benches with no one to sit and car parks empty of vehicles forever.

Scrambling native brambles collaborate with escaping garden roses against a backdrop of crushed rubble and cracked paving. Wild Carrot and Lamb’s Ears decorate a miniature roundabout - the floral combinations presenting a curious botanical landscape speaking of its own history.”

After working digitally for several years Tim has returned to using film for this project. Using a recently acquired medium format camera Tim is enjoying the slowness of the activitiy and the concentration and focus required.

Tim’s photographs will be presented to the public on the Barriers revealing the hidden contained landscapes. To find out more about Tim Johnson’s work visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/timstring/collections/

A crowd of over 30 walkers were lucky enough to benefit from the marvellously knowledgeable and self-confessed “Regency Man” Professor Boffin last Sunday when he led one of the walking festival walks.

Fresh from the signing tour of his latest book, “Pipes, sewers and drainage of the late 18th Century” the Professor made a rare departure from his regency specialism to provide an entertaining and informative tour; “The Queen’s Bloomers”, loosely based on Island 2000’s “Boat Trail”.

The walk highlighted the Victorian heritage of Cowes and East Cowes, particularly all the connections with Queen Victoria and her residence at Osborne House.

Following the walk, the Professor commented, “A splendid occasion. Wonderful people, the Islanders - got some very good friends in Seaview myself. My wife put me up for this - she’s very keen on ’causes’ - does a lot of work for charity and all that kind of caper. Anyway, must dash, I’m due up at Osborne House to investigate some of Victoria’s pipework. Cheerio!”

We’ve just done the first in the series of wildlife and heritage walks focusing on the Medina Valley from the Solent right up to Newport Quay. The overall project is called ‘Medina Rediscovered’ (funded by Heritage Lottery) and the walks bit ‘Doorstep Medina’. There is also a schools programme making use of all the Medina’s varied characteristics and features as local learning resources, plugging into as many bits of the curriculum as we can. The walk on Thursday went from Whippingham down to the river at Island Harbour and back again and what a splendid spring day it was! 2 Swallows, Orange Tips, Tortioseshells, Brimstones, Oystercatchers shouting all over the place, Great-crested Grebe and about a million Primroses. We went by St. Mildred’s Church too where, in the graveyard, you can find Samuel Saunders and Uffa Fox, two absolutely extraordinary men who must have helped to make East Cowes the buzzing hub of engineering and design brilliance that it once was.
Being so close to them is kind of inspiring and makes you want to rush back and do something spectacular for the town. We love East Cowes.

On Friday 16th March we unveiled a new artwork by Island artist Michael Forrest. It’s on the corner of Columbine Road, near to the Esplanade in East Cowes and we can actually see it from our office which is particularly lovely! The piece entitled ‘The Catch’ is an Arts and Business ‘New Partners’ collaborative commission between us and A J Wells & Sons Vitreous Enamellers. The partnership came as a direct result of our ‘The ART of Business’ sponsorship day (also supported by Arts & Business).

Lots of people turned up to celebrate the event with vast amounts of tea and cake - we even wheeled the piano out again so that Dan could do an official fanfare (if that’s possible on a piano??). And after a few words by the artist himself, Michael peeled back the plastic covering to reveal his new artwork - everyone smiled and clapped, and Michael’s Mum even shed a few tears… all together… AHH!

This piece was produced in enamelled steel at the AJ Wells studios based in Newport on the Isle of Wight. A combination of spraying, screen printing and hand painting was used to create the work. The medium of vitreous enamel allows the artwork to be displayed permanently outside as it has an exceptional resistance to the elements… good job if this week’s weather is anything to go by!

During his residency, Michael further explored the qualities of vitreous enamel to create his commission. This process allows the layers of colour to be built up, while retaining the smooth finish of the surface so desired in his former paintings. This too allowed experimentation into the relief of the surface, working in texture to enhance the feel. The finished piece which is a triptych, features a large scale seabird in Micheal’s customary bold, graphic style.

We are really excited by this project, and are very keen to foster further partnerships with Island businesses that support artists and result in innovative new artworks.

Spring is making itself felt in East Cowes and the No Barriers team is now in engaged in a race with the trees and flowers to put on the most attractive show of colour and artistry. Most of the art panels put up on the blue hoardings last year are still looking bright and cheerful enough despite the elements, but a few have been ruined in a spate of vandalism. We decided to fix this damage as soon as possible by replacing the broken panels with pieces of plywood painted in bright colours. We had the paint, we had the volunteers, but we didn’t have the wood. Happily, Ron Bowler of Morey’s Timber Merchants in Newport offered to help us out. Not only did Morey’s supply the wood, but they cut all the panels to size and delivered them the next day, all free of charge - so many thanks to them! We have already completed the first coats of paint and hope to have the boards put up in the next few days.

Looking out from our office window on this beautiful spring day there is a Black Redstart sitting in the Lime tree opposite. Here is a truly awful picture of it. It’s been around since December (the Black Redstart, obviously, the Lime Tree’s been there a lot longer than that,) and seems happy in East Cowes. There’s a great deal of redevelopment work going on here at the moment as part of the Cowes Waterfront Project - the regeneration work led by our regional development agency (SEEDA) and maybe it’s all this that appeals to our little friend.

We’ve got some new graffiti on the blue hoardings in East Cowes.

I know what you’re thinking… graffiti eh – the underground, often covert activity of youths in ‘hoodies’ and/or baseball caps?? Well scratch that, and please let’s not reinforce stereotypes at this early stage!

So, on Saturday 17th February we invited over a group of professional graffiti artists called Somnio (www.somnio.co.uk) to create a new painting on the blue boards. Somnio is an art collective which has been formed to bring together like-minded creatives. This piece can be seen in the Church Path area near the disused Bethel Church, which is adjacent to Well Road.

For those of you who don’t know, this was part of No Barriers (NB), an ongoing project run by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and Island 2000 Trust. Over the past year or so we’ve been gradually turning the hoardings into an outside community gallery space for all to enjoy. See www.nobarriers.org.uk for details of the projects so far.

Lead by Duncan Newland and Stuart Bedford, the Somnio artists set to work early in the morning, bringing with them a vast array of sketches, designs, stencils, and err… paint! They worked on individual parts of the boards discussing and critiquing each others work along the way.
The resulting artwork displays figurative imagery with more decorative, organic forms, shapes, patterns and motifs. It also combines bold and graphic styles with looser, painterly techniques. The frame motif gives a feeling of continuity without controlling the individual artists’ styles. Hmmm, can you tell I used to work in art gallery?

The activities of the day created quite a stir along Church Path site – some people avoided it, and some embraced it, asking questions about what was going on. The general feedback was very positive indeed. Two girls were heard to say: “They’ve made it look really cool down here now.” That’s more like it!

We hope to do more work with Somnio in the future. And hope that this will open the door to other NB creative activities and artistic opportunities along the way.

Photography by Ian Boyd and Tim Johnson. See more of Tim’s graffiti photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/64473370@N00/