Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), A Flowerbed for Alice is a collaborative sculpture made for Guldagergård, Skælskør Bygarden, Denmark. It is one of two pieces made with Lillemor Petersson. The other – Broken Missile Which Fell From Wonderland is still in construction and will be completed summer 2017.
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), A Flowerbed for Alice.
A Flowerbed for Alice.
Cumbrian Blue(s) porcelain tiles on a bed of bricks by Lillemor Petersson
A Flowerbed for Alice in the sculpture garden at Guldagergård with Inquistive by Bjørn Nørgaard and Malene Hartmann Rasmussen in the distance
A Flowerbed for Alice.
A Flowerbed for Alice, with the house at Guldagergård, Skælskør, Denmark, autumn 2016.
A Flowerbed for Alice
A Flowerbed for Alice
A Flowerbed for Alice
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), A Flowerbed for Alice is a collaborative sculpture made for Guldagergård, Skælskør Bygarden, Denmark. It is one of two pieces made with Lillemor Petersson. The other – Broken Missile Which Fell From Wonderland is still in construction and will be completed summer 2017.
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), Guldagergård Tree (After Spode) with A Flowerbed for Alice in the background
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), Guldagergård Tree (After Spode) with A Flowerbed for Alice in the background
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), Guldagergård Tree (After Spode) with A Flowerbed for Alice in the background
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), Guldagergård Tree (After Spode) with A Flowerbed for Alice in the background
A Flowerbed for Alice in the Skælskør Bygarden
Alice by Jim Cooper, looking at A Flowerbed for Alice
Alice and Snail, by Jim Cooper looking at A Flowerbed for Alice
A Flowerbed for Alice, from upstairs in the house at Guldagergård, Skælskør Bygarden, Denmark
A Flowerbed for Alice, in the sculpture garden at Guldagergård with Inquistive by Bjørn Nørgaard and Malene Hartmann Rasmussen in the distance
A Flowerbed for Alice
Paul Scott sitting on A Flowerbed for Alice, Guldagergård, Skælskør Bygarden, Denmark, autumn 2016
Lillemor Petersson and Paul Scott sitting on their Flowerbed for Alice, at Guldagergård, Skælskør Bygarden, Denmark, autumn 2016.
Broken Missile Which Fell From Wonderland. Brick column and rabbits by Lillemor Petersson at Guldagergård. A collaborative work still in progress
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The closed Spode Factory in July 2009
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) Tree after Davenport/Spode at the British Ceramics Biennial, September 2015
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) Tree after Davenport/Spode at the British Ceramics Biennial, September 2015
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) Tree after Davenport/Spode at the British Ceramics Biennial, September 2015
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) Tree after Davenport/Spode at the British Ceramics Biennial, September 2015
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) Tree after Davenport/Spode at the British Ceramics Biennial, September 2015
Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s) Tree after Davenport/Spode at the British Ceramics Biennial, September 2015
MP Tristram Hunt, and members of the press in front of Cumbrian Blue(s), Tree after Davenport/Spode at the British Ceramics Biennial, September 2015
Paul Scott with Member of Parliament for Stoke on Trent, Tristram Hunt, standing in front of Cumbrian Blue(s) Tree after Davenport/Spode at the British Ceramics Biennial, September 2015
Cumbrian Blue(s) Tree after Davenport/Spode at Cheeseburn Sculpture Park Northumberland, July 2016
Cumbrian Blue(s) Tree after Davenport/Spode at Cheeseburn Sculpture Park Northumberland, July 2016
A featured exhibit at the British Ceramics Biennial in 2015 and Cheeseburn Sculpture Park in 2016.
The life sized ceramic tree originally installed on the Spode China Hall in the old factory was created using original graphic material produced there for over 200 years, and harvested during research in the archives in 2015.
The garden surrounding the International Ceramic Research Centre Guldgergård, Denmark forms the public park for the town of Skælskør. It contains some rare trees, and is host to a number of ceramic sculptures including artworks by Ulla Viotti, Nina Hole and Robert Harrison.
Guldagergård was originally a fruit farm and the family who cultivated the land there for a number of generations were keen gardeners. They collected seeds and plants on their travels then established a small arboretum in the grounds. The farm was eventually sold to the local council with an agreement that the grounds would become the town’s public park. Today the buildings and site are also home to the International Ceramic Research Centre.
The Tree
In August 2013 a ‘new’ tree was planted in the garden. Blue and white five metres tall, the porcelain form references Guldagergård’s history and its contemporary purpose. Printed on hand made tiles imported from Jingdezhen in China, its material construction acknowledges the exotic nature of the other trees in Guldagergård, as well as the historical source of all ceramic blue and white wares. The tree image itself is drawn from English (especially Spode) printed landscape tablewares, whose designs were developed from nineteenth century prints and travel books. Artists painted the landscape (often already confected by designers like Capability Brown), then engravers reproduced them in a language of fine black dots and lines as images for books and magazines. Engravers in pottery factories in turn remediated these book illustrations into tableware designs. In the final part of the journey, Paul Scott as Cumbrian Blue(s) takes cobalt details out of domestic objects, re-sizing and re-placing them back into the landscape.
Technical Details
The tree was formed from a design created by collaging the minute decorative details of a number of engraved tableware patterns. A series of screen-printed underglaze cobalt blue decals (A3 size) were collaged onto high-fire glazed porcelain tiles sourced from Jingdezhen in China. The printed elements were supplemented by sponged areas and painted detail.
Tiles were installed onto a specially constructed re-inforced concrete form during August 2013.
Conceived in 2006, the work was commissioned by The International Ceramic Research Centre in 2012. Its production involved on-site, remote and collaborative working with a number of assistants. It was completed in summer 2013.
Click here to download a PDF with further information on this project.