Anita Bigsby
Artwork for Anita Bigsby
Details
How would you describe the work you do and why?
My starting point is always nature; shells, rocks, fossils, flowers, seed heads, tree bark, birds, animals, etc., and I like to look closely at the shapes and patterns within their make-up. I then work with a variety of natural clays and minerals; fire, wax, plant and animal extracts to build up the shapes and surface decoration to create tactile, organic, sculptural objects which encourage the viewer to feel a connection towards the piece and towards nature itself. There are, of course, messages within the work with regard to the fragility of nature and the careful balance we need to sustain and support life on earth but, on the whole it is a celebration and an encouragement to look more closely at the beauty, the elegance, the resilience and the majesty of the little things we often fail to see.
For you what does being an artist mean?:
I've probably always been an Artist and whether I'm dancing, singing, playing music, drawing, sculpting, photographing, making, crocheting, sewing, acting or writing, I have always had a smile on my face when I'm creating. I'm least happy when I'm sitting at a computer and staring at a screen for hours. Eughhh!
Describe what you call yourself/your practice?:
I think I will call myself a re-emerging artist after spending many years travelling, gathering, sketching, experimenting, thinking and philosophising. Now I know what I'm doing, I'm back in my studio and getting on with it.
Your practice & activities include e.g workshops, teaching:
I still teach and my favourite class is 'The Art of Observation' where I encourage students to really, really look at natural forms ... in fact ... to look so closely that I often give them a magnifying glass. Like with my work, it is amazing the detail that we often miss until someone points it out.
I have a couple of ceramic workshops on offer during h.Art week at my venue, The Ledbury Flower Farmer.
1. To create a ceramic reed diffuser using indented dried, wild flowers for decoration, natural herbs for the essence, naturally occurring minerals for colour and wild clay for the body.
2. To make a caricature Green Man. Again using wild clay and naturally occurring minerals and oxides for the decoration, and our great British tree leaves as stencils for the embellishments.
All materials and firing are included. Max 12 persons per workshop.
CV & Education, relevant & leading to your artistic practice:
Many, many years ago, I attended lots of Art Schools and had lots of fun in the process. Foundation at Medway College of Art and Design, Rochester, Kent (it opened my eyes). BA (Hons) Degree in Fine Art at Exeter College of Art (I learned to be a Photographer and to see things differently). PGCE - Secondary Art and Design Education, Birmingham Institute of Art (I learned I never wanted to work in a mainstream school ... and I never did). Post Graduate Diploma/MA in Art Education and Art Therapy (I learned I couldn't take Art Therapy seriously but still incorporated it into my teaching practise forever after). MA in Contemporary Crafts, Hereford College Art and Design (I learned that I liked to torture clay with fire and wax).
I've also spent the past couple of years studying to become a qualified Ethnobotanist. This has helped to reinforce my connection with nature and art, especially with the uses of wild plants, trees and fungi as sources for my artwork but also for traditional, complimentary, medicinal purposes and also for natural dyes and well-being.
Exhibitions in the last 3 years:
Lots of exhibitions of work over a long career in the Arts including group and solo exhibitions, Art Trails/Sculpture Trails in Towns, Forests and in National Trust properties/gardens, but nothing too much in the last 3 years because I've been getting married, travelling and researching. I've also been very busy running the Ludlow Fringe Festival since 2012, putting on lots of Visual and Performing Arts events and displays for thousands of other creatives. My turn now.
Your gallery outlets/stockists:
Contact me anitabigsby@gmail.com to discuss workshops and/or purchasing Artwork.