The phoenix at the NEC

Some photos from the NEC, then... We were in stand F24, which was just about central in the hall. Here's a view looking from the entrance


and one from the back of the hall.

I haven't asked for permission to blog other people's pieces yet, so I'll just show some pics of mine. The group challenge was to make something to a particular size (and we commissioned steel shelves to that size) which was based on an idea of recycling, and used mainly recycled materials. It had to be accompanied by a sketchbook (the shelves on the left in the second picture).

Mine was based on the Phoenix myth, and the general cultural consensus that a Phoenix lives 500 years; which is the lifespan of a plastic carrier bag in a landfill site.

I used knitted plastic for the 'nest', a Fanta bottle neck as a stand for the 'egg' (velvet from an old skirt), and turned sweet wrappers from a colleague's leaving do and some shiny purple tissue from last Christmas into feathers when combined with food wrap. There's some reclaimed electrical wire in there too.

The photo above shows the colours more accurately, but the distance shot using flash didn't work with the toplighting and spotlights in the building...

Another detail of the 'egg'...

I ws going to blog the stash acquisitions tonight, but the photo upload problem has struck again; maybe tomorrow...