Phoenix is a large garden sculpture created and exhibited with the help of funding from a Creative Scotland Individual Award. It was shown from July to October 2023 in Belgium at The Enchanted Garden, near Jodoigne. https://www.the-enchanted-garden.info/2023/index.php?Language=en&Year=2023

I am looking for further opportunities to exhibit the work – contact me if you are interested.

Phoenix shown here with Tone Aanderaa and Ignace Clarysse the curators:

The Story:

After showing ‘Sails’ at the Chelsea Flower Show in May 2022, I had the notion that the whole thing would work much better upside down. I created this little maquette out of paper and wire:

I was pleasantly surprised by the bird-like form that appeared. It felt like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of disappointment.

But how to achieve this new form?

A Creative Scotland Individual Award enabled me to enlist the help of James Maybury who created the elegant curved structure. He met the challenge of creating something sufficiently strong to hold the weight of the glass but that can also be broken down into small enough components for economical shipping.

Another challenge was making the structure the right size for the existing panels of glass that made up ‘Sails’. Curving the almost three-year-old leaded panels to fit involved cutting some of the glass to allow the panel to bend and adding lead over each cut. (Next time I will make the structure FIRST and then afterwards the stained glass to fit it). Here you can see some cuts before the lead was added:

The first complete build in my garden:

Photos of ‘Phoenix’ in Belgium and in relationship with some other exhibits:

And a few details:

Interesting fact: When I originally made ‘Sails’ during lockdown in 2020, I arranged it on my glass easel as below to paint it:

I knew at this stage that when set up as ‘Sails’, one half would have the glass paint on the inside of the sculpture and one on the outside (usually stained glass is painted on the inside surface to protect it from weather) but I was trying to see both sides in right relationship with each other while I was working, so chose to do it this way anyway. Now, in it’s new ‘Phoenix’ form, all of the paint is now on the inside surface of the sculpture. It is like it was always meant to be…