'Springtime... is on my mind': Nevill Hall Exhibition

I created this piece for the Nevill Hall exhibition, which opened on the 31st July until 10th September. I really had to go out of my comfort zone for this one as Nevill Hall had very strict and ridged criteria of what could and could not be exhibited, hence to say everything that was on the list stating what couldn’t be shown – I do! No abstract, no nudity/anatomy, no aggressive images etc, but the one that floored me was no surrealism! This is what I’m all about; I love to explore and experiment with everyday objects and create an alternate reality. So I asked myself the question – If I was in hospital what picture would I like to see? It would have to be relaxing, uplifting and fairly pretty. I struggle with pretty, the first two I can deal with but ‘pretty’ is a challenge. Thankfully inspiration hit me, a friends of mine’s girlfriend has a tattoo in the form of a Japanese style blossom tree, this I thought was ideal; it has all the components mention above. I wish to add that I have only taken inspiration from the tattoo and not a direct copy. Also the title is a lyric taken from the amazing Spinal Tap’s song Springtime. The piece is made from polymer clay and other organic material. The size is 20x16 inches.