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A local artist and teacher, who began looking for 'love' in unusual places as part of an art project inspired by a personal tragedy, has shared the artistic endeavours on her radar.
Elizabeth Summer loves sharing her creative passion with others in community projects. From Lizi Hill to Elizabeth Summer, she recently celebrated a brand new start to life with a new name but her artistic endeavours remain unchanged and creating sculptures full of curves and movement, inspired by the natural world, is still her passion.
Elizabeth's most prominent works include ‘Hillcrest’, a six-metre sign in stainless steel on Westmount, a copper sculpture based on the Fibonacci spiral at Retreat Farm in Maufant, and a steamed oak sculpture at CCA Galleries.
For Express, Elizabeth opened the door on her past and current projects and revealed the name of a local musician who lifts her soul...
10 years ago exactly, I found a perfect heart in the bottom of a mug of cocoa. I had just come back from the Swiss Hospital and was sending love to the baby girl I had just lost, who would have been called Summer. Since then, I have been finding hearts in all sorts of surprising places – clouds, food, snow, on beaches. With over 2,000 photographs, I’ve kept quiet about this quirky project thinking that this is not what serious artists do. Now it is time to launch this project.
Pictured: Elizabeth has over 2,000 photographs of hearts she found in the most unlikely places.
Last year, I went to a Camp Veria, a refugee camp in Greece with Ian Rolls, Maria Tarrant and Aurélie Boas, thanks to JCRAG and Bridge2. It had a big impact on me. We brought the refugees' art work back - their drawings of their hopes and dreams drawn on a suitcase.
Jersey artists then responded with what home meant to them. With funds from ArtHouse Jersey and the support of the Arts Centre, we had our ‘Made with Love’ exhibition. It highlighted the contrast between the chaotic, transitory lives of the refugees and the settled and secure life most of us enjoy in Jersey. The contrast was embodied by a duel symbolism ‘suitcases and ‘homes’ with love as a lasting solution.
One common symbol that was used by the refugees was the heart. It would be wonderful to join together human beings across the world with a project of looking for hearts in surprising places.
“Being Human” will be a celebration of local female artists with a wide range of styles and medium in the exhibition. It is being curated by Gabriella Street and Amy CD. It will be in March and I am so proud to be part of this. At the moment, I’m creating sculptural pieces from paper painted and drawn over then ripped and made into 3D sculptural pieces. The work I’m experimenting with is very cathartic. Recently, I was told to "grow a pair of balls"! Instead, I declined and said that I was growing a beautiful pair of wings. Watch out for my wings in March!
Pictured: Elizabeth will take part in the 'Being Human' exhibition next March.
A poem written by Simone de Beauvoir is something that I have in my studio: "Let her swim, climb mountain peaks, pilot an airplane, battle against the elements, take risks, go out for adventure, and she will not feel before the world the timidity." Of course, this poem is for all human beings!
After the original pier was repaired earlier this year, I was invited to create 3D work fixed to the pier and covered twice a day by the tides. A challenging idea until I mentioned this to Glyn and Linda Burton who said mosaic tiles would be the answer.
Pictured: Greve de Lecq was repaired earlier this year.
Linda Burton creates the most beautiful mosaics and Glyn, a man of many talents, can just about do anything. They both joined me on this project. It has been a wonderful summer working with them and a whole range of community groups in St. Ouen and St. Mary.
We’ve been running workshops in schools, churches, cafés, pubs, with youth groups, life guards, the Fishing Boat Association and with Ports of Jersey to turn their designs into mosaics. A test piece has been installed, beautifully made by Linda and Glyn, so you can go down and have a sneak peak. There is also a beautiful cross made at St. Ouen’s Church.
Pictured: Elizabeth, Glyn and Linda Burton have created mosaics with community groups.
All the remaining mosaics will be installed in the late Spring just after the boat show. There will be a grand launch of this project for the mosaics to be enjoyed by everyone at Greve de Lecq beach during Summer 2019.
Music is something that lifts my soul and I need whilst I’m creating art and writing. I love listening to Samuel Walwyn's music. If you haven’t heard Samuel play, then I would strongly recommend that you do. His music is utterly original and beautiful.
Pictured: Elizabeth's says she loves Samuel's wide range of influences.
The musician in question is a 21-year-old singer-songwriter and guitarist, whose music incorporates a blend of folk’s sentiment with the appeal and melodic hook of pop. In his songs, you will find a wide range of influences, ranging from the percussive elements of flamenco to the hard beats of hip-hop and dance. His unique style and engaging stage presence has led him to support Gabrielle Aplin and share a stage with Newton Faulkner, this year alone.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and not of the Bailiwick Express.
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