“Cracker Collector “.

“Cracker Collector ” is a drawing of an outline on a boulder sketched on a boulder at  Whitehaven beach in August 2015.I used a piece of  coal to draw out the outline of a beach coal collector ,copied from a photograph taken in the 1930’s.In times of recession, people would collect coal from the beach and sell it to households ,going from door to door.The coal would often be of poor quality and would ‘explode’ in a fire,hence the term ‘cracker’.In more recent times,men in the 1960’s and 70’s would collect and sell coal for beer money. I thought a piece of coal would be appropriate to sketch out the form ,copied from a famous old photograph of Mary Ellen Spence with a huge bag of coal on her back.

” Industrial Grids “

“Industrial Grids “,was assembled at Whitehaven beach in West Cumbria in August 2015 and is comprised of carefully assembled grids of  collected site specific beach materials.The main focus was to collect  remnants of discarded man made products associated with the areas past industrial legacy.I assembled squares of sea coal or ‘crackers’ as they are known locally together with remnants from the pottery and glass industries and other debris from now extinct factories,mines and forges.The grids act as ‘samples’ ,representing the main legacy and acting as reminders of a bygone age.I was fascinated with the beautiful textures ,colours and forms and I received lots of attention from passers by and dog walkers during the four hours the artwork took to create.Next day,the beach installation was gone,reclaimed by the Irish Sea tidal currents .