Deborah Podmore
Ceramic Artist
Public Art Projects
These are projects I have been involved in over a 6 year period.
PAVILLION MOSAIC -- October 2019
St. Elphins Park, Warrington
I ran workshops in the park over the summer where participants
made and decorated little tiles to fill the larger areas. We asked everyone to stamp their initials into the clay as a personal memory of that occasion and a permanent reminder set into the finished community mosaic. I also ran workshops from my studio where we made the larger more detailed tiles.
Warrington Guardian article about the mosaic in St. Elphins Park
The Pavilion Mosaic was commissioned by 'The Friends Of St Elphin's Park'. The proposal was for a community made mosaic to embellish the wall of the pavilion based on the local history of Fairfield and Howley.
We started by engaging with local community groups and schools to collect ideas, photographs, drawings and memories. It was important to draw ideas from a wide spectrum of the community including dementia sufferers who became valuable participants when referencing the past. Janice Hayes, Warrington's cultural curator and local author oversaw the historical details and provided photographs as visual reference. We centered on two local schools and Warrington walking day as the theme. Around this we referenced local points of interest such as St Elphin's Church, the Tudor cottage and Fairfield hall. Smaller tiles were placed around the edge with further historical references.
PADGATE STATION MURAL -- December 2017
Padgate Station, Warrington
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For this project I worked with the pupils of Christchurch Primary School. A number of workshops took place at the school involving all the children and staff members.
A final design was produced, inspired by some of the pupils drawings. Working with groups of children we made and decorated tiles to fit specific parts of the mural. Finally we made a black and white boarder displaying each child and staff members thumb print and initial.
https://www.longbarnra.co.uk/unveiling-the-new-mosaic-at-padgate-station/
'BOATS AND BRIDGES' -- August 2016
Widnes Children's Centre, Spike Island, Widnes
The children's centre in Widnes invited me to an outdoor event celebrating work the centre had done throughout the year. Participants were asked to design and paint a ceramic tile along the theme of 'Boats and Bridges'. The tiles were them assembled and made into a panel now on permanent display in the children's centre.
NATURE PANEL -- June 2016
St. Mary's Hospital, Warrington
St. Mary's Hospital is a resident hospital for male patients with a brain injury, deaf people with mental disorders and male and female patients with autistic spectrum conditions.
This decorative tile panel was made over 2 morning workshops. Using the garden as a theme we collected buds, flowers and grasses as a starting point. Impressions were made into the clay and some areas were modelled. Slips were used to add color before I glazed the work. The patients made a frame and displayed the panel on the wall overlooking the garden.
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ARTWORK COMMISSION -- February 2016
St. Matthew's C of E Primary School, Stretton
This commission was for a piece of artwork to be on permanent display in the new reception area of St. Matthew's C of E Primary School. Seven competition winners designed and made their own square to make up the 3 x 3 final piece of work. We used the symbol of the cross as a starting point and then explored texture and the idea of fragmentation in a drawing workshop. The workshops were held in school and at my studio where pupils looked at colour and experimented with glaze combinations. Finally each piece of work was framed and displayed on the reception wall.
https://www.stmatthewsceprimary.com/news/detail/we-are-working-with-debbie-podmore-creating-a-piec/
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SCHOOL MOSAIC -- September 2015
St. Matthew's C of E Primary School, Stretton
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This projects was started in school where the children made a paper version of the mosaic.
The whole school was involved in this project, including the reception years and even the dinner ladies! We had weekly sessions starting with rolling and cutting the mosaic tiles, colouring them with slips and finally glazing. Each child and staff member made a small tile of their thumbprint, initials and year group. This was placed around the edge to form the border.
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'66' -- September 2014
WW1 Exhibition, Fairfield, Warrington
This artwork was created as part of the commemorations to mark 100 years since the beginning of WW1. Warrington's wire making industry played an important role in the first and second world wars. Sixty-six men lost their lives that worked at Rylands Brothers ltd, a wire manufactures, close to the old school at Fairfield.
My starting point was the humble cup of tea, a very British tradition. To the young soldiers a cup of tea probably represented warmth, comfort, and hope as they sat in the trenches. Each cup is unique and represents one for each life lost. Warrington library assisted my research into the Lancashire regiment of newspaper articles, letters and poems. I collected words and sentences that I thought represented not only what the soldiers were going through but the families at home too.
