I was really pleased to be asked to create a remembrance piece for Erewash Museum. I was so pleased with last years installation created with The Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy; this piece has a very different feel, a mass of colours which hopefully connect with the fields beyond.

We decided it was particularly poignant this year to remember that across Europe and the world many people lost their lives in the two World Wars and in subsequent conflicts, so looked at the ways different countries remember; red poppies, of course, but also the white ones and then cornflowers, used in France, forget me nots, in Newfoundland/Labrador, daisies in Holland and rosemary in Australia.

Recycled Plastics with Bennerley Fields

The beautiful windows were perfect for the installation; I loved that as you looked through the window you could see fields and wanted to make the connection between the piece and the outside. So, I set about creating a faux stained glass window using recycled plastics and created this work with Bennerley Fields Specialist Speech and Language school.

I thoroughly enjoyed the sessions in school; it’s still great to see peoples faces as i transform the plastic bags in front of them; very simple magic! I’m always learning too and loved how the teachers decided we’d have themed music to work to … ‘stuck on you’, ‘stuck in the middle with you’ …. there’s lots of glueing and sticking involved!!

A few flowers were added to the installation, but we hope that visitors will drop in, make a remembrance flower and add it to the piece. You can drop in to the museum to see the piece and add to the installation until Remembrance day. Details about the museum opening hours can be found on their website http://www.erewashmuseum.co.uk/

If you haven’t seen it, here’s last years piece ‘Fragile Peace’, created with Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy