Tiles: St Mary De Crypt

The Spaces project launched last night and is now available as a trail around eight historic buildings in the heart of Gloucester (you can pick up a map and free CD from the Tourist Info shop). The project has been a year and more in the making, taking in collaborations from many disparate artists and musicians to create a patchwork of songs inspired by these Gloucester spaces. As the project artist, I was given an open brief. Sitting in the cool, ancient space of the very first building a plan began to appear. I would work on creating 8 art tiles - one for each space. My work resulted in many variations before the final eight were chosen for the CD cover. By the end of the project, the tiles have emerged into a pleasing patchwork of colour and images, echoing the collaborations happening all around me and infused by the music being made in Spaces. I'll blog about each location and the art that followed over the next week. Enjoy and then go check out the Spaces project for yourself!

St Mary De Crypt: I sat in a pew as it happened around me, tea lights and voices swirling in that ancient space, sacred.

Back at home I played that first track on repeat, the sound of voices and strings weaving into my work. I was taken with the shadows in that ancient space. The shadows that have emerged through centuries and the shadows that we cast. I painted a watercolour background, inspired by the old stone and the words sung out by the choir. I sketched patterns of

high stone arches letting the light in and they became silhouette.

Alternatives, inspired by the intricate wooden detailing and high stone arches:

Swirls of metal covering an old door in lino print: