Brenda Sharp - My brain is a sieve

Brenda is our artist of the day for today's blog entry for one very good reason. She came to a meeting many moons ago in St James Centre in the North End that I arranged for Wirral Council staff (including the late and much missed Jim Smith) to give us information about the Empty Shop Fund, I merely hosted the opportnuity, not wanting to go for the money myself. Brenda seized the chance, finding one venue then another and finally plumping for her final location in Liscard. Today is the grand opening for PAPER SCISSORS STONE and we are all so proud of her. Representing local artists and craftspeople, Brenda Sharp's enterprise has been helped by a grant from Wirral Council through the Empty Shop Fund. She will be running workshops and exhibitions as well as selling wonderful art, craft and design from artists of Wirral, Merseyside and surroundiing area. Offering something for everyone's budget and taste.

Anyway, back to the de-junk, re-junk show and my usual format for blog posts!

 

Brenda Sharp is a photographer and multi media artist. In  "My Brain is a Sieve", she has explored  how her mind might look if translated using the discipline of multimedia art.

Brenda graduated from The University of Chester as a mature student in 2009, gaining a first in Fine Art and Photography BA (Hons). She then resumed self employment as a workshop leader and designer -maker before making the leap into opening a shop and gallery in Wallasey "Paper Scissors Stone".

Rubbish exhibition in the park

Helen Smith's workshop with plastic bag flowers

 

A “rubbish” show in Birkenhead Park Visitors Centre doesn’t sound very appealing but with over 30 Merseyside based artists and craftspeople using junk it is definitely an exhibition worth viewing. The exhibitors have taken rubbish, litter and un-used items to recreate into artwork and craftwork showing how with a bit of creativity and skill - things that would inevitably end up in landfill can be transformed and be saved. The exhibition “de-junk, re-junk!” will be open daily from 9 til 4.30pm daily.

Following her involvement with the organisation of recycling art shows in 2010 and 2011, curator Alison Bailey Smith has had support from Wirral Council again in mounting the exhibition, she said of the forthcoming exhibition:

  "Last year, the exhibition took a different approach to the previous community show in 2010 with professional artists and craftspeople re-using my old kitchen and producing paintings, mosaics and sculptures. This year, we have used social media to ask for items such as milk bottles and plastic to transform as well as exchanging our own unwanted hoarded, redundant “gems”. We visited Bidston recycling plant to see the recycling process first hand. After which many of the artists reconsidered the items they were using to shift to items not currently being recycled through local recycling facilities.  One of the pieces to be featured in the exhibition will be our new sign made of scrabble parts and broken plates produced at a mosaic workshop during our de-junk, re-junk workshops funded by MRWA earlier this year and a piece of furniture made using reclaimed wooden floorboards by mastercraftsman, Damon Revans-Turner. Next year, in 2013 we will be looking for sponsors to be able to run the exhibition”

There will be "junk" available for people to take away and create their own de-junk, re-junk creation, photos can be emailed to Alison Bailey Smith info@abscraft.com and their recreations will be posted on the blog during the show http://de-junkre-junk.blogspot.co.uk/

Birkenhead Park Visitors Centre, Birkenhead Park, Park Drive, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH41 4HY