Anna Masters: Street Pianos
On Thursday I spent an afternoon with talented artist Anna Masters. Anna is contributing to an exciting public art project entitled: Street Pianos: Play Me, I’m Yours and has hand-painted 10 pianos which will be displayed in various locations throughout London. Anna Masters has been involved in other high profile art projects in the past, including The Elephant Parade and Jungle City, both of which were organised by the charity Elephant Family, and earlier this year she designed and painted an egg for the popular Fabergé Big Egg Hunt. As I photographed Anna putting the finishing touches to her artworks, she discussed some of the key themes for this project including inspiration, audience participation, and how Street Pianos has differed from her involvement in previous projects.
For further details about Street Pianos: Play Me, I’m Yours please see: http://www.streetpianos.com
“For me it’s important to take part in these kind of events as it’s a great way for people to see your work in unconventional settings – it opens up your work to different audiences.”
“It’s also good to be challenged to work in different ways; the brief, form and technical aspects of the work all inform your work in ways which you might not think about otherwise. Besides that, it’s really lovely to work on projects which people get so much enjoyment out of!”
There are 50 gold pianos, designed and painted by 5 artists
“The inspiration for the design stemmed from the Festival itself – I wanted to create a design that linked to the music theme, but also related to my own practice which generally has an organic and natural focus.”
“I found the design process for the pianos quite difficult as there wasn’t one idea that sprang out for me. So I drafted up a few designs and then worked up the one that I felt happiest with. I then adapted it to the size and designs of the individual pianos.”
Street Pianos was devised by artist Luke Jerram, in 2008. This is the final year of the project.
These pianos will be used as part of the City of London Festival, who have organised Street Pianos for four years.
The pianos will be in public spaces around the City of London and it’s neighbouring boroughs. The locations of them can be found at: http://www.colf.org/exhibitions/Classical-Music-Contemporary-Music-Exhibition-Jazz-World-Music/53-Free-Event–50-Golden-Street-Pianos.cfm
“In comparison to the previous projects, the pianos were a lot more challenging in terms of the time-frame and volume of work, which made me think more carefully about materials and the painting process.”
“The warehouse was Piano Logistics, in Hayes. All of these projects end up taking you to some pretty odd places – the elephant for Elephant Parade was in a shop front in Elephant and Castle, the tiger for Jungle City was in a disused library – which was pretty creepy. In comparison, the warehouse was pretty comfortable and accommodating!”
Time for a tune! Anna doesn’t just paint pianos beautifully…
There will be a road show of the pianos 18 June – 23 June, after which the pianos will be in their locations until 13 July.
“The Festival had selected artists with a much more urban feel than Elephant Family tend to pick, so it was good to work with people with such a different artistic background and skill-set to mine.”
2012 is the Festival’s Golden Jubilee, so all of the pianos have a gold theme or link.
Anna Masters uses a range of different materials and techniques to express her artistic ideas including paintings, prints and large scale installations. Please check out her website here: http://www.annamasters.com/
Thank you for visiting my blog 🙂
All photographs © Samantha Edgley. All rights reserved
The London Green Fair
The London Green Fair celebrated its 20th Anniversary at Regent’s Park this weekend and I popped along (with my camera, of course!) to enjoy a sunny Saturday at the event.
A growing awareness of environmental issues within the capital has seen this once small Fair develop into a popular annual event, which attracts tens of thousands of attendees each year. The London Green Fair was launched in 1992 and was held in the railways arches at Kings Cross. However, as the popularity of this free event has developed, its location was changed to the more suitably green and leafy surroundings of Regent’s Park.
The London Green Fair has a varied and interesting programme. There was plenty of live music, market stalls, and talks and debates on offer. Plus there were glitter tattoos and free trees! This was a vibrant event which celebrated the achievements being made in the battle for a greener London.
The Amazing Cycle Powered Answer to Everything Machine!
Scythe demonstration
Audience participation
Watching the world go by
Festival feet
Creating a buzz
Mr Blue Sky
The perfect place for a temporary tattoo…
…and some face painting
… followed by a bit of retail therapy!
In perfect harmony – The Segue Sisters
Pedal power in action
The Green Fair in bloom
Saturdays headline act – A.J Holmes & the Hackney Empire
Bassist Abi
Boogie time!
All photographs © Samantha Edgley. All rights reserved
Kew Gardens in June
The perfect tonic to a busy week was a Saturday spent at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Kew Gardens was founded in 1759 and continues to inspire and enlighten. In addition to being one of London’s most popular visitor attractions, Kew Gardens’ contribution to conservation and plant science is of central importance.
After enjoying a relaxing picnic it was time to start exploring some of Kew’s 300 acres. There is so much to see; glasshouses, tropical plants, rock gardens, sculptures, aquariums, the Rose Pergola. We ran out of time and vowed to return to Kew Gardens again very shortly, surely the perfect excuse to return to a perfect place. In the meantime, here are some of the beautiful sights encountered at Kew Gardens.
The Rose Pergola in full bloom
David Nash – Black Sphere (charred oak)
Flight of the bumble bee
Some of the plants and flowers inside the Princess of Wales Conservatory
Swans in front of Palm House
It’s a Bugs Life inside Palm House
The marine display in the basement of Palm House
The Rock Garden
Unicorn Gate
All photographs © Samantha Edgley. All rights reserved
Beside the See Side at the Seaside
Hurrah! The sun is shining and summer is here! What better way is there to celebrate the sunshine than with a holiday on the coast? So with my ukulele, badminton rackets, summer suitcase and sunglasses at the ready, I was all set for a sun soaked week away.
Although my blog is ‘beside the see side’ and not specifically about the seaside I must confess to being slightly obsessed by the sights and sounds of the seaside, and so I could not resist posting a blog about my trip to Dorset. There is so much to be inspired by at Poole, Weymouth and Lyme Regis. I hope you enjoy the photos. So please pull up a deck chair, grab an ice cream, and take a look.
I do like to be beside the seaside…
Pastel pink, convertible Beetle = my dream car
Live for leisure time
So much more fun than travelling on the tube
This is the method of transport we used to get our first glimpse of Durdle Door
Time to leave the sandals behind and go paddling in the sea
Durdle Door
Look at the people who have managed to climb to the top
Sadly Punch & Judy were not in when we popped round
All the fun of the fair. Weymouth’s carousel at night
I loved these colourful beach huts at Lyme Regis
Sunshine and shadows
On top of the world
The harbour at Lyme Regis
Cooling down in the sea
Thanks for taking the time to look at my blog 🙂
All photographs © Samantha Edgley. All rights reserved
Happy 350th Birthday Mr Punch!
Clearly we just can’t get enough of the mischievous Mr Punch, which is why hordes of people (many clutching puppets) descended upon Covent Garden to join the 350 year celebrations on Saturday.
The first record of Mr Punch was made by the diarist Samuel Pepys who referred to a puppet show he had observed in Covent Garden on 12 May 1662. Pepys enthused that he had seen: “an Italian puppet play that is within the rayles there, which is very pretty, the best that ever I saw…” The date of this performance has become the acknowledged birthday for Mr Punch in Britain. To mark 350 years the ‘Big Grin’ organised a day of festivities which included a parade, a huge birthday cake, a giant strings of sausages, a marching band and, of course, Punch & Judy booths. Even the sunshine made a welcomed appearance. Although I’m not totally sure whether the ‘Big Grin’ organised that too…
I can still remember being completely transfixed whilst watching Punch & Judy at the seaside as a child. Observing the reactions of children and adults at the celebrations this weekend it was clear that Mr Punch still has the ability to capture our imagination and amuse us in a way that few other shows can. With his anarchic nature, distinctive giggle and slapstick humour, Mr Punch’s popularity shows no signs of diminishing. His appeal has endured despite all the odds in recent times and there are now more Punch puppeteers (aka Professors) in London than ever before. That’s the way to do it! Here’s to another 350 years!
Punch, the Professor, and the pocket sized puppet
It’s show time!
That’s the way to do it! Mr Punch hits his adversary, the crocodile, with a large wooden stick known as a slapstick. The term ‘slapstick comedy’ originated from its use in Punch shows.
View from the backstage area
The stars of the show
Joey the Clown arrives to infuriate and confuse Mr Punch
Mr Punch the Marionette. Punch shows were originally performed using marionette puppets until glove puppet performances became more popular towards the end of the 18th Century.
All the colours of the rainbow
The parade. Punch Professors, enthusiasts and collectors from around the world gather in Covent Garden to celebrate 350 years of Mr Punch
Introducing the Band
The balcony of the Punch & Judy pub in Covent Garden was a perfect spot to watch the festivities
Say Cheese!
Benjamin Pollock’s Toy Shop
Thank you for visiting my blog. Please pop by again soon! 🙂
All photographs © Samantha Edgley. All rights reserved
Greetings!
Hello and thank you for visiting my new photoblog, it is most kind of you to pop by. Please feel free to make yourself at home, kick off your shoes and put the kettle on.
My blog will focus on British visual culture. To be more specific (and simultaneously more vague) I will photograph and record the sights and spectacles that intrigue, fascinate and inspire me. I hope that my enthusiasm for these topics will prove to be infectious. Please do drop by again soon.
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Samantha Edgley Photography 