Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) Willow Cuttings
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) The Garden Series Willow Cuttings
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) Prunings
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) The Garden Series Prunings
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) American Scenery Clouds No:1 (After Cadre and Lisa)
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) Storm Damage
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) Cutting No:1
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) (Black and White) Flower Pot No:1
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) (Blue and White) Flower Pot No:1
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) (Blue and White) Flower Pot No:2
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) (Blue and White) Flower Pot No:3
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) Willow Cutting
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) (Blue and White) Flower Pots
Work in progress in studio
Cuttings installation in the Potting Shed
In 2015 I started harvesting details from fragments of early nineteenth century Willow pattern transferware plates.
These ceramic ‘cuttings’ were selected because of their visual similarity to foliage and plant material that I propagate in my garden. By placing them onto the surface of plates and platters I found myself specifically referencing the horticultural. Some cut fragments did not work as compositional material so I discarded them onto a spare plate where they took on the appearance of ‘prunings’ – the kind of plant material that finds its way to the compost heap.
Details of old willow patterns are naturally slightly abstracted on editing, but a recent invitation to create an installation for Cheeseburn Sculpture Park in Northumberland brought the work into a clear focus. Here I was confronted by the old potting shed and stacks of old terracotta pots. As a result I began harvesting overtly floral details of old transferware borders and the ‘cuttings’ began to take on very clear echoes of my gardening practice. I have ‘planted’ flowers and leaf cuttings in coarse sand (topped with gravel) in old terracotta pots.
These works form part of my ongoing interest in gardening, landscape, and their relationships with print, transferware and text.