It was a pleasant surprise to wake up to sun this morning, a bit of warmth on the barn will be extremely welcome, clearly they made a mistake on last night’s TV weather forecast suggesting that snow and hail may fall.
Everyone was hard at work when I arrived at the Carr’s barn at 9.45am. Helen and Ann, the real creative masters were busy pricking out the outline of ‘The Good Shepherd’.
From a photograph they create a picture using a range of materials, to achieve texture, depth and almost a 3D effect, and it is not easy.
………
………
………
………
…………
……….
……
……..
……….
………
……….
……….
Although mainly flower petals are used on Yew Tree Well, anything is potentially up for grabs. For Jesus’s hair the Carr children had to have a haircut; real authenticity is strived for. By mid afternoon the sheep were being worked on and a cry went up for wool. Edward disappeared for a significant period of time and came back armed with smelly wet wool. Yes he had just been out into the field, he eventually caught a sheep and gave it a trim.
………
………
………
………
…………
……….
……
……..
……….
………
……….
……….
Yesterday stones of various sizes were found in the clay. Today I found a 30cm long root right in the middle of where I was trying to create a rose. It was totally in the way, the coffee beans wouldn’t sit in the clay, so it had to go.
This rose was a bit daunting for me. It was my first attempt at having to make something (a flower) look recognisable, interpreting it from a picture. I found it hard, I had to ask Helen to help with the outline and then give me some advice about creating shading using just two types of petals: red carnations and slightly darker peonies. My end result is more of an impressionists approach, you know it’s a flower and through a process of deduction you may eventually realise that it is a red rose.
Today I introduced Caroline H to Well Dressing and thankfully she really enjoyed it despite the freezing cold and she’s got a natural talent for it. She doesn’t know I’ve put her work up, so don’t tell her.
Unfortunately the forecasters were right about the weather, we had torrential rain, hail and at one point we thought we were being hit by a tornado. Normally we warm up by drinking tea, but as a last resort, when we are truly desperate, out comes the hip flask!
………
………
………
………
…………
……….
……
……..
……….
………
……….
……….
Just to give you a flavour of how some of the royal & UK emblems are coming along, here is a glimpse of the leek, which really is made out of the leek leaves and the brightly coloured crown.
………
………
………
………
…………
……….
……
……..
……….
………
……….
……….
I’m sure that the children of Parwich School will recognise one of the faces in this next photo. It’s Mrs Potter who is currently cooking the school lunches. She is working on the top section of the design using a mix of petals, black knobs and parsley.
The hydrangeas are lovely petals to work with, they are flat, not to thin and will press down in the clay easily. The blue hydrangeas are used in the main board to create the sky and because there is such a variation of shades within one flower head the finished result is very effective.
Well I have finished Well Dressing for this year, but everyone else will be working hard all day Wednesday to complete the designs. Tomorrow evening all the boards will go up at each well in Tissington, fingers crossed for a dry and windless night. The Well Dressings will remain up until Wednesday 23rd May, so why not pop along to enjoy this wonderful tradition.
Just to finish off this gallery I wanted to show you who we were sharing the barn with, 10 gorgeous piglets who are just 12 days old.
Click on any photo to enlarge.
Click here for Tissington Well Dressings 2012 Day One
PARWICH.ORG 
Great photos, thank you Jane for doing these posts.