chat with Rachel Carter

 sculptor

24 years ago she went back to college. Had children. very relatable. Took an A.S level in fine art with Tom. Gave her confidence. continued with a level. Did foundation full time. had second daughter but still continued while pregnant 2nd time. Tom got her ready for uni. Tom gave advice i think you need to continue experimenting. went to uni. 2ND year in was into metal as a material, basketry. Made metal frames. welded metal. created welding frames. wanted to combine landscape with all this. lecturer advised to look at different relative artists, what happens when nature plays with sculpture? looked at art shows, asked for there demographic breakdowns on visitors, was not high enough. rhs Chelsea flower show!! wanted to get involved in this. went to check it out, so much art work and sculpture, felt this is where she needed to be. how does she get there> 6 months worked at tkmaxx for monies, but realised she needed to do the art full time so left. looking at small shows to begin with, she wrote them a letter! explained the situation, they welcomed her to do something but it cost thousands to apply so had to go back to the drawing board. went to arts council, was suggested a trial run. she did through funding from council, she then got conformation after trial run from council to fund Chelsea flower show. wanted to give away the piece to elderly homes. paid for ppl to visit the show for a mini bus too. 13500 visitors. she was asked lots of material and process questions. had to learn logistics for the show, paperwork ect but learnt lots. team of landscape artists loved her work and asked for her to make more. got her first commission.

loves weaving willow. skip diving. off cuts of electrical wire to crochet with, tried copper, wanted to do bronze casting, was told this was not possible, can get mouldy, just not possible. 

looked at how bronze has been worked with over the past. wrote to a professor in Leicester, asked can this be done? he said not possible. spoke to a different lecturer. make it in wax. 

brought special wax, temperature.

wax? how did you manipulate wax? and was that just for a mould?  

 CHECK HER OUT ON YOUTUBE

my words

Today we met Rachel Carter. A Sculptor from the surrounding area. She has worked hard and has been determined to prove she can do something after being continuously told by lecturers or top professors that she couldn't, that it was not possible. It was. With research and determination you can.

Rachel started college A.S level in fine art with our same beloved lecturer Tom who taught her. She smashed this and wanted to learn more so continued forward with A level art and then after giving birth to her 2nd child she continued through to uni. Interested with metal manipulation and weaving she combined the two creating beautiful sculptures, starting small and then increasing in diameter. After taking a look at bronze as a medium she wanted these weaved ball structure to be made from bronze. Was this possible? (i want to listen back to the recording for more info on this, why was it difficult?) She was told no by many, that it was impossible. 

wax into bronze?

Taking an interest in ancestry Rachel delve into the past to find out her roots. Upon doing so many thoughts came to her about women 100s of years ago in this surrounding area of the midlands and why on earth do we have solo figures of men everywhere but no women, still.  another spectacular piece Rachel thought