Woodland Spirits

Back in August the Making Space team headed out on a little road-trip to Sway, to see the solo exhibition of one of our tenants Mary Dalton.

Since joining our little creative community Mary had been working hard on creating work for her solo show ‘Into the Woods, Out of the Trees’ at the ArtSway Gallery.

As the Making Space crew arrived early we were given an inspirational and informative pre-PV talk from Mary about the work, the meanings behind the pieces and a more detailed description about the narrative in the work. The work was all created in response to her residency at Hollybank Woods.

A stand out part of the show was The ‘Spirits of the Sweet Chestnut Tree’ installation.

A room with textures of green on the wall, textures which I might add, perfectly captured the dappled light of the leaf canopy outside. But as you looked down covering the floor were hundreds of green spirits…

These little characters were inspired by a past trip to the woods where the sweet chestnut trees, plentiful in lime green nuts were dropping all around Mary and her family. Mary imagined these creatures “rummaging on the floor amongst the nuts, gorging on them and meeting in annual gatherings of joyous celebration”.

What really stood out was the individual personalities that the spirits had. Their expressions and adornments were brilliant. Made from a bi-product of the sweet chestnut tree coppice, the spirits were adorned using natural materials and woven decorations. I thought they were magical.

Inspired by these wonderful creatures and the idea of using bi-products from the woods to create sculptures, Mary will be leading a whole day of workshops early next month.

Using bundles of twigs, participants are invited to get creative and transform these sticks into wonderful and wacky woodland spirits.

Children, families and those of all ages (solo adults are welcome too) are invited to attend one of 3 sessions Making Space has programmed in on Saturday 1 October.

There will be a Reach Out family session from 10am-1pm which is specifically for children with additional needs. In the afternoon there will be 2 sessions (2-3.30pm and 3.30-5pm) where everyone can join in the fun.

Add faces, weave in unusual materials and bind wire to create unique sculptures. There will be no rules or set design to follow, participants will be encouraged to use their creativity and imagination to make original and unique sculptures.

The most exciting thing about this project is that all of the woodland spirit sculptures made on the day will be joining Mary’s sculptures at The Hollybank Woods Autumn Fair on the 16 October.

All of the Woodland Spirit Sculptures will be on show to the public as part of an installation in the woods. Nestled amongst the trees from which they came they will look amazing.

It’s not often you get a chance to see your work on show to the public in such an unusual environment! If you’d like to find out more or book a space (there are still spaces available) please visit this page of our website or get in touch!

There is limited space so book asap for a guaranteed place on the course.

If you’d like to see more of Mary’s work you can follow her on Facebook and via her website.