15 years ago, in 2008, 60 people came together over the course of one day on Cathedral Green in Wells, to draw the great West Front. The resulting canvas, a patchwork stitched together, was shown that year in a barn in West Horrington, as part of Somerset Art Weeks. Since then it has languished in a mattress bag in my house, and all attempts to get it shown again, by many different people, failed. Until now. Bill Lloyd, of Project Factory, Wells, who also organises events at Cedars Hall, Wells Cathedral School got in touch with me this autumn. Would I be interested in hanging the Wells Canvas, as it has come to be known, in the spacious foyer of Cedars Hall. I got the Canvas out of its bag, for the first time in years, and spread it out.
Though a bit creased, it was still in mint condition. From that moment on, Bill led a campaign to get the Canvas hung, and last night, December 15th, some of the artists involved gathered to celebrate it.
Here’s how it came about. 15 years ago I wanted to run a community drawing session, to make a huge picture of the West Front, joining everyone’s work up. I applied for funding to Somerset Art Works and approached 9 Somerset artists to help me manage the day. The preparation was extensive: first I divided a hi res photo into 74 pieces. I kept the horizontals in a straight line, and divided the verticals to make sense of the architecture. I printed out these as small photos, scaled them up x 10, and cut out pieces of canvas, which I treated with earth pigments in a starch paste medium, to give a sense of the colour of the stones.
On June 24th, Midsummer’s day, we gathered with easels and marquee on the Cathedral Green. It rained throughout the day, and the marquee nearly blew away, but we did it: artists, Wells residents passing by, and tourists from all over the world gathered to each complete a section. People worked two to an easel, using compressed charcoal in a variety of greys. We lashed umbrellas to the easels, and now and then one of them blew over. But I had great feedback: one Wells resident wrote to me afterwards: ‘I walk past that facade every day, and I’ve never really looked at it till now’. Another email from the US said it was a highlight of their UK visit.
The canvases were sprayed with fixative as they were finished, but this didn’t hold the charcoal strongly enough, so I got them home and experimented with various sprays. The one that worked was starch paste sprayed thinly over the fixative. It’s fixed them to this day, but the canvas mustn’t get damp otherwise it might become mouldy.
Next, to join it together. Artists Jan Ollis and Fiona Hingston came to help with this. Jan and I guided the ever expanding canvas through Fiona’s sewing machine. How we managed it I don’t know, but we did. We lined it, and a local tentmaker inserted eyelets so it could be hung up like a sail – always my image of it, though it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe that’s still to come. Any ideas, anyone?
That Autumn it was hung in a barn in West Horrington for Somerset Art Weeks. It only just fitted; we had to dig out some of the floor to accommodate it. I’m so glad that many of the participants were able to see it there, and glad again that the public can see it.
To see the canvas, you need to consult the Cedars Hall programme to see when it is open in the evenings. As it’s also a school, it’s not open to the public during school hours. So Bill’s suggestion is that you go early on a performance night. It’s in the foyer, so you don’t need to buy tickets. There’s a bar as well. It will be there till February half term.
Bronwen Bradshaw 