New glass

In 2011 Yeovil District Hospital refurbished the Haematology and Oncology Department and asked me to design various artworks spread throughout the suite of treatment, consultation and waiting rooms. They are printed on a variety of materials; transparent window vinyl, vinyl wallpaper, fabric for screens and paper for wall boxes. 2018 has brought a second refurbishment and more opportunities for my work in the new department.

Digitally printed vinyl wallpaper outside consultation room and in waiting corridor.

I find revisiting old commissions nerve wracking - have they stood the test of time and do people, including me, really like them? What I liked on this revisit was my design, based on wavy lines and filled in with peaceful colours, that links all the different artworks (above). The wallpaper still looks good on the corridor walls, although I wish Dr. Bolam would put his board elsewhere. I particularly like the corridor wall where you can see the waves starting with a shallow curve at the bottom where they hug the crash rail and swelling with life as the curve increases towards the ceiling. 

Design for entrance wall, digital wallpaper and glass square: glass sample in progress

The wavy lines were the basis for the new work, but this time I pulled them apart and upside down so they float around in a looser formation. There is more wallpaper, some printing on acrylic and even some glass panels. The design flows across these different materials (above left), in the middle the glass square glows with backlit colour (below right). It was so exciting actually making some glass for a change, see the sample with layers of vivid colour on the sandblasted surface (above right). As usual, the sample was a quite different colour from the real thing. I opened the kiln (below left) and marvelled at the fantastic, luscious pink surface - just one firing! 

Glass square in the kiln after firing: during installation in the newly papered entrance wall.

Detail of the finished glass square (575 x 575 mm).

The second glass panel was for a screen in the waiting area. I made this piece over a weekend - every process went smoothly including installation and admiration. In the design for this one, and by the way the design takes far longer than the manufacture, I took out the wavy lines one by one until only two remained to link this artwork to the others.

Design for glass insert in screen: finished glass panel photographed in studio: glass installed in waiting room screen

Detail through screen, showing hand cut, painted and printed detail in transparent enamels.

What I Did With The Pattern

Inside the baptistry, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Cattistock, Dorset.                                  Copy of the wall pattern

This repeat pattern has been drawn up and ready for use since I first saw it in Cattistock Church last January. I was particularly attracted by the nature of the geometry within the repeat - at the same time diagonal and square but disguised by the organic overall flow of the pattern. In my design work, particularly the ones for healthcare settings, I find that my own preference for a geometric framework is not necessarily what is required. So I have been reversing my usual practice and putting the repetitive geometry into the details which float on an irregular textured background.

Study for designs for Special Care Baby Unit counselling room, Yeovil District Hospital.

Pattern versions 2, 3, 4 & 5

The pattern has gone through a series of changes from the original at Cattistock to give it a more open and rounded appearance to suit  this commission. More changes resulted from feedback that leaf shapes were preferred to flowers - a bit of a blow as the pattern is essentially floral, but I believe that making changes to order is one of the things that drives my work forward.

Design for 4 ceiling tiles for Yeovil Hospital, SCBU counselling room