The arts programme for the Bristol Heart Institute (BHI) by Willis and Newson, which incorporated the "Life-Boat" (see below), won the Building Better Healthcare Award for the Best Use of Visual Art in Healthcare 2009.

‘LIFE-BOAT’ is LAUNCHED
A new piece designed in collaboration with fellow artist Rob Olins, is now open to the public at the new BRISTOL HEART INSTITUTE.
This brand new building has been desperately needed for some time in Bristol. It is tucked away behind the Bristol Children’s Hospital and adjacent to the Oncology department of the Bristol Royal Infirmary.
It has been a long and fascinating journey for Rob and myself and would not have happened without the funds collected by Above and Beyond Charities and those patients, nursing staff and members of the public that generously donated.
Willis Newson Art consultants gave us this opportunity to collaborate together for the first time a risk for them, a risk for us!
Colin at Loco Glass and Tony Osman at Osman Glass made the glass for the gold rods and The Sculpture Factory built the boat. Jon Shanks our engineer from Buro Happold Ltd.
I would like to send a special thank you to Simon Chen and Stephen Derrick of Trac Structural for the mammoth task of installing the piece in extraordinary circumstances.
Their skill and patience was amazing and an installation performance in its own right!
See COMMISSIONS and PROCESSES.

HIDDEN IMPACT – Prints in the city
I was selected as one of 30 artists in Bristol to take part in this exciting new project to run in conjunction with IMPACT 6, an International Print Conference to be held at the University of the West of England at Bower Ashton in September, Saturday 12th – Sunday 19th September 2009.
The project was conceived and organised by Ros Ford and co-ordinated by Spike Print Studio, Bristol for artists living, working, exhibiting and studying in Bristol.
This event took place in central Bristol, bringing together artists with business, cultural and leisure facilities.
The event aimed to show art in unexpected and unusual locations, encouraging participation by the public, taking art to people in ordinary surroundings.

HIDDEN IMPACT was a great success as was the Open Impact exhibitions and conference in September.

I chose an area of Bristol that has always intrigued me.
Hidden away behind the Hippodrome the courtyard seems lost in time.

Orchard Court, Bristol VealeWasbrough Lawyers exterior view

The windows I used suggested a theatrical, uplifting expression in this wide courtyard surrounded by its grey industrial past.

I came across this quotation from Martin Luther King when I was researching the area’s past

‘Even if I knew that the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree’

The quotation also seemed to be appropriate for the venue Orchard Court and VealeWasbrough Lawyers.

I chose to evoke the simplicity, luminosity and calm of an orchard on a sunny day and at the same time play with a different perspective to tease and intrigue the viewer who will also find themselves reflected into the image like an actor on a stage.
So from rather dusty vertical blinds to a feeling of sitting under an apple tree for your 10 o’clock meeting!

Orchard Court, Bristol VealeWasbrough Lawyers interior view

There was great feedback from those who found the venue….it was rather well hidden!
Here are a few.

‘That's the best idea ever, I think they're wonderful. How amazing to get nature inside and out when really it's no where to be seen. Love it.’ Hilary Berkley - artist

‘slightly disorientating to see that which is usually horizontal on the ground placed vertically - i like this disturbance, it intrigues and arouses my curiosity' - Alyson Hallett - poet

THE NANO FACTOR
So why am I hooked!
I have been using this extraordinary material silk organza for years both in my work as a theatre design for costumes etc. and now in many of the works I design for Public Spaces.
Often I have been asked to design a sculptural piece to inhibit the sun entering the space only to be confronted with a glass house where the receptionists are blinded and baked by the sun streaming into the atrium during summer or frozen but still under attack from the low piercing sun in Winter!
Did they really want a piece of art or curtains?
It occurred to me that I needed to research the possibilities that Victor Papanek believed that design should follow function.
The climate in some of these spaces is not a good one for the lifetime of the silk or the dyes Why are we trying to block out the sun so avidly?
Why can we not harness the sun’s energy for the benefit of the building and at the same time protect and inspire the people who work there?
What is a stable textile?
These questions brought me to research the possibilities and it has introduced me to a totally fascinating new world. Despite scary and difficult to understand terminology, let alone the ethical considerations, I am still hooked.
It’s an extraordinary journey that scientists have already started on back in the 80’s and early 90’s if not earlier
I have this year started to grapple with this adventure starting with the Albert Franks Memorial Lecture: What next for Nanotechnology? given by Richard A. L. Jones from the University of Sheffield Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Royal College of physicians as part of a two-day conference on Nano Textiles.
The following day I went to the London College of Fashion to hear artists and makers Lynne Murray – Jeweller, Kate Goldsworthy textiles and Oliver Geoffroy,Unto this Last talk about their experiences of collaborating with new technology.
In May I visited The Stroud International Textile Festival to discover some brilliant new work. Next years Festival will be centring upon the issue of new technologies and textiles.
With ideas whirling in my head and a new book called Techno Textiles by Sarah E Braddock and Marie O’Mahony under my arm I’m off to discover more!