/// THE WATER TOWER PROJECT ///

If you follow me on social media you will have seen a plethora of various water Norfolk and Suffolk water towers last week. It is a project I have had bubbling away in the background for a while, and took the break in teaching over the half term period to make some headway with it.

So, what is my water tower project?

I love all things 20th century industrial/brutalist. Which includes water towers, magnificent forms sticking their heads up over trees to be seen for miles.

They fulfil my criteria of being functional, having clean lines (unlike their fussy Victorian ancestors), they are bold and imposing, solid, and have wonderful surface textures created from years of being, well just being.

At uni we had briefs which always included a period of primary research. Meaning you see the actual things which inspire you, close up. You really look at them, so study them from every angle. You get as much of them as you possibly can. Secondary research was also involved, this is where you use someone elses images etc, so they have done the research and you are using that. Which is still very helpful but for a project to really work you can’t skip the primary stage.

I decided that for my next collection of silverware I would like to use 20th century water towers as my inspiration. I have no preconceptions as to what function or form the pieces will take as I am going back to basics. I have given myself a brief, much like those unis days.

Step one, photograph as many water towers in Norfolk and Suffolk as I can. Sadly most are behind tall fences so I can’t get in close to really study their textures (if you know anyone who can help get me closer to them please get in touch!). Step one has only just started, I still have a long list of towers I plan to visit, and weather dependant may get them done this side of christmas - although realistically I don’t have that much spare time in every makers busiest period so I may be fooling myself.

Step two, draw. I am going to immerse myself in all their lines, angles, negative spaces, EVERYTHING by drawing drawing and more drawing. I am forbidding myself from thinking for even a minute about what form my designs should take, step two is all about letting it all sink in. It is going to be a long step.

Step three, will be informed by step two where designs may have started to form deep in my subconscious. I will finally start to play around with design ideas. This will be exciting as I truly have no idea what I will come up with. That is the beauty of designing - fill your head with every aspect of your inspiration then let it do its thing!

Step four will be making paper models of some of the designs to see how they translate from 2D to 3D. Only then will I start to get an idea of how the collection may look. Paper models are good as you get a sense of scale and proportion, you can made adjustments and really resolve the design in great detail before making a start on it in silver.

Step five MAKE THEM IN SILVER. The hard part. Well, each part is difficult, design/creating/making isn’t an easy process as any skilled maker will tell you. But it is the fun part, seeing a design which has come from the depths of your soul, a combination of head and heart, being created through your hands. The why we do it.

So there, in short, is the very long design process for my next collection. I’m not putting any pressure on myself with timelines because to be frank it’s really bloody difficult fitting in time around work commitments. I applied for some funding to help with that but wasn’t successful so I will continue to work at it as and when I can, and remind myself that patience is a virtue!