Organic graffiti….or what to do on a large bare wall in pruning season.

When Forrest winery was confronted with a row of dying trees that hid their implement shed from the pristine landscape of the winery surroundings, just two months before a family wedding, I as resident artist, was asked for a solution.
 
Although I am primarily a sculptor, artists tend to be lateral thinkers, and it was pruning season. The shed is 16 metres long and 4 metres high….. a bit large for any significant stone work, given the time frame. Vine art has been around for years, the material keeps well in dry climates and, in season, is flexible.
 
I presented Brigid Forrest with sketches for an abstract wall design and a stylised Marlborough Sounds landscape; she chose the latter, as the family spends as much time at their Sounds retreat as possible.
 
Many hours of tedious vine-tying later, the concept was transferred  to 10 panels of  supporting mesh to create a 12 m by 2.4 m giant monochrome sketch which was firmly affixed to the offending wall just one day before the wedding. The end result is a rather spectacular backdrop, with added perspective supplied by a retreating flock of gull profiles in stainless steel flying across the vista. A very satisfying outcome for all concerned.  

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