AccessArt Text Only - Working with Withies

Withies are long flexible willow twigs. Making sculptures this way is very flexible (sculptures can be made using all sizes using the same method), easy ( all ages and abilities can work this way) and fairly quick (impressive results can be seen in a short space of time) and requires no specialist tools (except pliers). Children can work individually, or in groups on larger sculptures.

Withies are "farmed" in a number of places in England - all of whom deliver. The actual colour of the sticks varies, depending upon the type of willow and where it is grown. The best place to spot suppliers is in the back of a gardening magazine, as withies are now used a lot in gardening (fences, supports etc.). For starters try: English Hurdle Curload, Stoke St Gregory, Taunton, Somerset, TA3 6JD Tel: 01823 69418. £30 a bundle plus delivery

Withies are available all year round but they are at their greenest (most flexible) around November to March (the main harvesting time). Most come in unsorted bundles 3 to 5 feet tall. Although they seem expensive you get quite a lot for your money and they will keep - though they loose their flexibility as they dry out. Soaking withies overnight increases their flexibility.

Mod roc is basically plaster impregnated bandage. It used to be used for plaster casts for broken limbs, and is used a lot in schools as an easy and versatile sculpture material. The dry plaster bandage is submerged in water for a few seconds, turns soft and mushy, and can then be draped over a form or armature (structure), and hardens within 15 to 20 minutes. The surface can be painted with water or oil based paints and varnishes (though if oil based paints are used then the mod roc must be completely dry as well as hard (takes up to a week to dry out). Remember - the water that you dip the mod roc into must be clean. If after a while the mod roc water becomes cloudy, it will stop the mod roc from going hard. Pour cloudy water into a plaster trap sink, or into a bucket, to allow the sediment to set, rather than block the sink!

Mod roc is available from most art shops, though buying it in small quantities is very expensive. Better to buy from a school supplies such as NES Arnold 0115 971 7700. A 14lb continuous strip costs about £18.00.

Binding wire is available in craft shops or do it yourself shops, but it is cheapest to buy bigger rolls from builders yards. The thinner the wire the more flexible and easy to use it is. Not only is the wire used to join withies together, it can also help bend dry withies. By wrapping wire around the length of a withie you can then half break the withies at intervals to form a curve, which will be held in place by the wire

Start by making simple building shapes such as the teepee shown here. Think about a variety of three dimensional shapes - tripods, cubes, pyramids, rectangles, domes.

Use long withies and bind them together in bundles to make them more rigid. Make each building element about 1 - 2 metres tall if space permits.

Once you have made a few simple elements you can start grouping them together to make whole buildings and cities. Work as a group and bring your individual elements together.

Bear in mind the scale of your body as you build. See how your body reacts to the spaces and shapes you make. Try to make your buildings and cities tempt visitors to enter.

Have a look at the drawings and prints of Piranesi. He created very claustrophobic images with series of stairs and vaults travelling up, down and across his drawings. Perhaps you could use these as the basis of a sculpture...

Small Scale Sculpture

Give yourself a time limit (maybe 15 minute per sculpture) and make a number of small sculptures which capture different body positions.

Make the sculptures no more that 30cm long/tall.

Forget details! Think about the main shapes the body makes.

Develop one of your figures into a full scale sculpture...see below

Get your body into a particular position - e.g. stretched out on the floor, standing tall, crouching etc.

Take a few minutes to appreciate what it feels like to be in that position. Feel the weight of your body pressing down through your feet, or back... feel how strong or weak different parts of your body seem.

When you are sure you know what it feels like to be in that position, start making sculpture which is the same size as you are.

Try and capture the way your body feels to you, rather than looks.

Think about strong shapes which the body naturally makes, which will help your sculpture stand or sit.

It will be easier to make your sculpture stand if you make at least three parts of the body touch the floor (e.g. two feet and one hand, or two feet, two hands and your bottom).

Don't get carried away with details - its big shapes that count.

Think about the personality of the creature you are making!

Start by choosing a creature with a very definite personality - such as a mean bird of prey, or a buzzy, fussy insect, or a sleepy reclining cat. Try and really think what it is about the creature which gives it its character.

Don't design your sculpture first! Let the natural shape of the withies suggest parts of your creature to you. For instance you might find a slightly bent withie which reminds you of the wing span of a bird.

Think big - forget about detail unless it really helps describe the personality. For example the hooked beak on the eagle opposite helps describe its hunting character.

Make sculptures of flying things and let them hang instead of stand! Make a "washing line" out of wire and keep testing your sculptures to check they balance.

Don't be afraid of letting your sculpture move away from the animal you first started making. As you make your sculpture and your imagination starts to take over, the sculpture might become completely imaginary - and the more fantastical the better!

Think of all the ways in which you might change the size and shape of your body:

Use withies to create structural shapes which you can wear. Think how you might wear them:

Don't forget to keep trying your costumes on as you make them.

Make your structures in pairs and help each other. You could even make something a group of people could wear.

The withie structures you make will be really attractive, but you could brighten your sculptures by adding other materials such as

Keep the structures light in weight to make them easier to wear

Research the early work of artist Rebecca Horn who made sculptural arm extensions and sculptures which obscured the natural shape of the body.

Flying Creatures

Think about the personality of the creature you are making!

Think big - forget about detail unless it really helps describe the personality. For example the hooked beak on the eagle opposite helps describe its hunting character.

Make sculptures of flying things and let them hang instead of stand! Make a "washing line" out of wire and keep testing your sculptures to check they balance.