Vintage case by Heather Hunter
6-21 June 2020 is Bucks Art Weeks and Haddenham would normally be buzzing with visitors exploring the many open studios of artists across the village. Our own Artist in Residence, Heather Hunter, has been opening her studio here at Turn End for many years.
Bucks Arts Weeks is having a virtual exhibition on their website this year and you can see Heather’s work and also discover artists across the county here: https://www.bucksartweeks.org.uk/galleries/2020/heather-hunter
Several of us here on the Turn End estate have been using the last few months to work on creative projects. We hope you’ll enjoy this selection below:
Heather Hunter, Artist in Residence
Although I have not been resident in the studio since the pandemic started, I am still experimenting with the inks made from the garden trimmings.
I have also embarked on a creative journey to investigate seeds. I have been carving stamps from my drawings of seeds and seedpods and my investigations have led me to Sophie Munns. See #sophiemunns on Instagram.
Sophie was drawn to paint early on whilst growing up on the Clarence River, North Coast NSW, Australia. Absent-mindedly she collected seedpods as a child, only to find decades later they had 'arrived' in her paintings as a harbinger of a project she would dedicate herself to from 2009, exploring the potent world of seeds.
Sophie's life to date has been characterised by a passion for cultural expressions across time and place, encountered first through a degree in Education (Fine Art) then manifesting in personal explorations of symbolic languages and food and plant cultures from around the globe, and more recently through an immersion in ethnobotany and biocultural diversity research.
She runs the Homage to the seed project https://www.facebook.com/Homage to the seed
She also runs some online courses through SeedArtLab and I have joined her. Her philosophy suits me at the moment; slow down, observe more closely then produce Art.
I do hope that you will come and see me when it is allowed especially over my open studio weekend 9-11 October 2020 when I shall have other artists sharing the space with me but meanwhile I shall enjoy my new challenge.
William Andrews, Cabinet Maker
I studied furniture making at Bucks New University, renowned for its craft courses in the heart of High Wycombe, historically one of the UK’s main furniture production centres.
I run my own furniture making business, designing and making a wide range of bespoke pieces to fit the client’s needs, taste and budget. These include fine furniture, built in cabinets and contemporary office furniture. I also make individually crafted wooden items such as lamps, servings boards, clocks and boxes, particularly using interesting offcuts of wood. I also work in partnership with a very experienced joiner and together we produce timber projects for private houses, retailers, historic properties and museums. We are able to work on a full range of bespoke timber projects, such as windows, doors, cabinets and storage solutions.
Tray or serving board made from Douglas Fir offcut from the construction of Turn End house
My workshop has been closed during lockdown but I’ve been working from home on designs for forthcoming projects and making smaller pieces using hand tools.
This new bench is made from a Robinia pseudoacia ‘Frisia’ tree (False Acacia) that was felled here on the Turn End estate. The sawn board with the retained bark was beautiful in itself so I just gave the timber a light sand to bring out the amazing grain and 4 coats of satin yacht varnish to protect and enhance the golden colour of the wood. The unfinished steel legs will naturally rust in time to a red-brown colour that will sit well in a garden environment.
Email: wpafurniture@gmail.co.uk
Garden bench made from timber from a Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Frisia’ tree felled on the Turn End estate
Jackie Hunt, Turn End’s Gardener
I’ve been working full time looking after the garden at Turn End throughout lockdown. The garden develops so much and looks incredible between March and June and I’ve been sorry to not be able to share it with our visitors as normal.
Instead, I’ve been trying to take regular photos of the garden and plants. You can see my plant and garden images on our Turn End Trust Instagram account and some close up images below of plants that have recently flowered.
Iris ‘Blue Rhythm’
Geranium renardii ‘Tschelda’
Salvia ringens
Allium hollandicum
I very much enjoy taking photographs - as a keen amateur - of gardens, plants, landscapes and buildings and I make gifts for friends and family with some of my images. Here are some of my projects I’ve had time to work on during lockdown.
Cotton bag printed with image of Costa Rican rainforest
Cotton zip-top purse printed with image of Costa Rican Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
Greeting’s cards with photographs from our trip to Morocco last year
