Seven Yew Trees
which probably encircled a seat in the Wilderness many years ago, are being trained over a steel framework to create a ‘green' summer house with a comfortable seat, sounds and smells. Three intricate stained glass windows are being incorporated around the sloping roof, while the floor is a copper shape inlaid into concrete. The sitooterie, which was completed in August 2006, will provide a space for everyone, but particularly for those with disabilities.
We decided that the 4 seasons would be represented within the sitooterie: spring, summer and autumn in the stained-glass windows and winter on copper leaves which were hung from the inside of the sitooterie
I designed the copper floor pattern, and the 3 stained glass windows were designed and made by the stained glass artist Teri Lockton. The project leader, Lisa D'Onofrio, created poetry in conjunction with members of the John Groom Association, which was made into a sound piece by Tim Bowness. This atmospheric piece can be heard inside the sitooterie, by triggering a copper switch.
Making the copper leaves
Cleaning the copper before soldering
Soldering the copper to its support
The centre inscribed with:"If you listen closely you can hear the earth breathe."
Laying the copper flower on site.
BLICKLING HALL 'SITOOTERIE'
In August 2006 a new 'sitooterie' (a Scottish word for a garden seating area) opened at Blickling Hall in Norfolk, this was designed, made and installed by a collaborative team including myself, the poet Lisa D'Onofrio, crafts-people Teri and Sidney Lockton, Jenny Jordan, metal-worker Ronnie Anderson, Blickling Hall gardeners Ed and Rob, and artist Mike Fenton (see the photograph at the bottom of the page).
The COPPER FLOWER CIRCLE
My main contribution was to design and make the copper-floor flower shape. Taking inspiration from a ceiling rose I saw at Blickling Hall (below left) and the central part of an image of mine called 'Creation', which was doubled up to form a flower like shape (below middle), then further refined to make the final design (below right).
Creating the Copper Flower Circle
The final design is approximately 20 feet across, and had to undergo several stages before it was ready to install. First the recycled copper was cut into the shapes by blacksmith James Spedding, then Sidney Lockton, Mike Fenton and myself attached the shapes to a wooden support by soldering them to thin copper strips. Then I inscribed the central circle with a line taken from one of the poems made at Lisa D'Onofrio's workshop with the John Groom Association:
"If you listen closely you will hear the earth breathe"
The six central saddle shapes have also been inscribed with the names of the main contributors to the project.
Yet more soldering took place at the actual site to fix strips of copper to the back of the shapes for extra support. Once the site had been leveled and prepared by the gardening team at Blickling Hall, Sidney, some of the Blickling gardeners, volunteers and myself set it into concrete, and put a gravel covering in between the copper shapes.
The Sitooterie Team (above)
Spring, Summer and Autumn Stained Glass Windows
The 3 stained glass windows are designed and made by glass artist Teri Lockton and are fixed into the steel frame. They represent 3 of the seasons - spring, summer and autumn - which are illustrated by leaves from native english trees. The trees also had to be found at Blickling, and needed to have distinctly differing shapes, so Teri chose the oak, the rowan and the field maple.
The rowan (above as a line drawing), sorbus aucuparia, was chosen to represent spring because it has creamy-white clusters of flowers in May.
The English oak (below, as a line drawing), quercus robur, is the quintessential English tree – and also the symbol of the National Trust - the oak leaf was chosen to represent summer.
For autumn the field maple (below, in situ), acer campestre, because it has leaves which turn beautiful colours.
The stained glass panels are circular, because the circle is a perfect shape, with no beginning and no end, like the cycle of the seasons. Each circle has a border around the outside of the panel which illustrate another attribute of the tree, plus imagery inspired by motifs used throughout Blickling Hall itself.
The John Groom Association
The National Trust has been working on this project in partnership with the John Groom Association in Norwich, which is a national charity providing services and support for people with disabilities. The project has been made possible through the generous support of the Norfolk based Geoffrey Watling Charity.
Workshops
Four workshops were held with members of the John Groom Association two with Teri Lockton, one making individual glass mosaic panels, the other making a joint leaded glass leaf shape.
Sound Piece
The project leader, Lisa D'Onofrio, created poetry in conjunction with members of the John Groom Association based on their responses to the seasons. This was later made into a sound piece by Tim Bowness. I also held a workshop with Lisa where the residents painted snowflakes onto copper leaf shapes to represent winter which have now been hung inside the sitooterie.