Gwen Heeney (1952–2016) was a British ceramist, sculptor and academic, known particularly for sculptures created from bricks. Her commissioned sculptures stand in locations in Britain.
Heeney studied ceramics at the School of Art and Design at Bristol Polytechnic from 1971 to 1974. From 1977 to 1986 she had a studio producing domestic pottery, in Cardiff and in mid-Wales. She studied at the Royal College of Art from 1987 to 1989 under Eduardo Paolozzi, gaining an MA, and during 1988 worked in Sweden with Ulla Viotti ; after this time she produced large scale works, using architectural brick. [1] [2]
From 1989 she was a research fellow in architectural ceramics at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, where she lectured until 1997. From 1998 she was a lecturer in the ceramics department of the University of Wolverhampton. She was a founder member of the World Association of Brick Artists, and a member of the International Academy of Ceramics. She died of cancer in 2016. [1] [2]
Heeney's's works include the following:
"Taliesin", in Llanfair Caereinion, was commissioned by Powys County Council and dates from in 1996. It was funded by the Gulbenkian Foundation, the Prince's Trust and North Wales Art. It is a carved brick sculpture, 4.20 metres (13.8 ft) long and 1.50 metres (4 ft 11 in) high, inspired by a folk-tale in the Book of Taliesin. [3]
"Bid Ben Bid Bont" is in the grounds of Llanfyllin High School, Powys, where the artist ran workshops with the pupils. It was commissioned by the Arts Council of Wales, and is a brick sculpture dating from 1999, 13.20 metres (43.3 ft) long and up to 1.75 metres (5 ft 9 in) high. The title is the school's motto, a line from the story of Branwen in the Mabinogion. [4]
The Centenary Seat of Girl Guiding Nottinghamshire, in Rufford Country Park, Ollerton, commissioned to celebrate 100 years of Girl Guiding in Nottinghamshire, was unveiled in 2010. A large settee and two chairs, made of oversize bricks made by Ibstock Brick, are arranged in a trefoil, the symbol of the guiding movement. [5]
Her book Brickworks was published in 2003. [6]
Taliesin was an early Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to have sung at the courts of at least three kings.
The Mabinogion are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created c. 1350–1410, as well as a few earlier fragments. The title covers a collection of eleven prose stories of widely different types, offering drama, philosophy, romance, tragedy, fantasy and humour, and created by various narrators over time. There is a classic hero quest, "Culhwch and Olwen"; a historic legend in "Lludd and Llefelys", complete with glimpses of a far off age; and other tales portray a very different King Arthur from the later popular versions. The highly sophisticated complexity of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi defies categorisation. The stories are so diverse that it has been argued that they are not even a true collection.
Lake Vyrnwy is a reservoir in Powys, Wales, built in the 1880s for Liverpool Corporation Waterworks to supply Liverpool with fresh water. It flooded the head of the Vyrnwy valley and submerged the village of Llanwddyn.
National Museum Cardiff, formerly known as the National Museum of Wales, is a museum and art gallery in Cardiff, Wales. The museum is part of the wider network of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales. Entry is kept free by a grant from the Welsh Government.
Ann Griffiths was a Welsh poet and writer of Methodist Christian hymns in the Welsh language. Her poetry reflects her fervent Christian faith and thorough scriptural knowledge.
Berriew is a village and community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. It is on the Montgomeryshire Canal and the Afon Rhiw, near the confluence with the River Severn at grid reference SJ185005, 79 miles (128 km) from Cardiff and 151 miles (243 km) from London. The village itself had a population of 283. and the community also includes Garthmyl Hall and Refail.
Margaret Sidney Davies, was a Welsh art collector and patron of the arts. With her sister Gwendoline, she bequeathed a total of 260 works, particularly strong in Impressionist and 20th-century art, which formed the basis of the present-day National Museum Wales' international collection. The sisters started the Gregynog Press in 1922 and the Gregynog Music Festival in 1933.
Pont y Werin is a pedestrian and cyclist bridge spanning the River Ely between Cardiff Bay and Penarth, Wales.
Alliance is a 25-metre-high (82 ft) sculpture in the centre of Cardiff, Wales, created by Paris installation artist Jean-Bernard Metais. It consists of a large, partly enamelled, stainless steel arrow, and a hoop that glows in the dark. It was financed by the St David’s shopping centre as part of a £1.5m public art scheme in the city centre, and was unveiled on 3 December 2009.
Creirwy is a figure in the Mabinogion and the Hanes Taliesin, daughter of the enchantress Ceridwen and Tegid Foel. The Welsh Triads name her one of the three most beautiful maids of the Isle of Britain. Born in Penllyn in Powys, Wales, Creirwy has a dark, hideous brother named Morfran and a foster brother, Gwion Bach. She does not appear in the stories about Afagddu and Taliesin.
In Iranian architecture, banna'i is an architectural decorative art in which glazed tiles are alternated with plain bricks to create geometric patterns over the surface of a wall or to spell out sacred names or pious phrases. This technique originated in Syria and Iraq in the 8th century, and matured in the Seljuq and Timurid era, as it spread to Iran, Anatolia and Central Asia.
Llanbadarn Fawr is a community in Powys, within the historic boundaries of Radnorshire, mid Wales. Consisting of a tract of undulating land directly north east of Llandrindod Wells, the community consists of the settlements of Crossgates and Fron and in 2001 had a population of 654, increasing to 701 at the 2011 Census. The community name comes from the local church.
The Gold Medal of the National Eisteddfod of Wales is awarded annually in three categories for excellence in Fine Art, Architecture, or Craft and Design.
Henk Trumpie was a Dutch ceramist and sculptor.
Lucy Gwendolen Williams, also known as Gwen Williams was a British sculptor and painter and a descendant of the Williams family of Highfield Hall in Flintshire.
Meri Wells is a ceramic sculptor who lives and works near Machynlleth, Powys, Wales.
Jacqui Poncelet, also known as Jacqueline Poncelet, is a Belgian artist. Poncelet began her art career as a ceramist in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1980s her practice expanded to include painting, sculpture and public art.
Michael Fairfax is an English sculptor. He has created many sculptures by commission, which stand in locations in Britain.
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