Photography is a passion. I have been fortunate enough as an adventure travel photographer and designer to visit may countries and see some incredible sights. Most of the trips I have undertaken have essentially become visual diaries. I  do not have any major trips planned until October 2013 when I will join an expedition high into to the Arctic in a tall ship to participate in an arts project supported by the Arctic Circle, a New York based arts charity. I expect some dramatic images from that. In the meantime I will post a selection of images reflecting my current experiences. I hope you find them interesting. Chris

Royal Victoria Infermary

January 27, 2013  •  Leave a Comment

This week we installed a commission that we have been working on for the past 9 months. What a great piece of work - well actually 27 pieces, as the commission was for three artworks each made of 9 individual cast glass panels weighing about 13kg each! One on each floor of the building. It looks fabulous and once the specialist lighting is installed it will be truly spectacular.

The work was commissioned for the Great North Childrens' Hospital at the Royal Victoria Infermary, Newcastle and contains 'life casts' of the hands of a number of young patients, nurses, consultants and Katya Filmus as the artist and person who did all the mould making and casting! The rear of the panels are also detailed with transcriptions of many 'get well' messages, and letters of love and support - all in three dimensions! The National Glass Centre has an amazing array of facilities enabling us to undertake an incredible range of creative art projects.

The production process for this was pretty complex, involving 'hands-in' workshops for all concerned and then the production of a bewildering arrangement of positive and negative moulds in plaster, silicone and plaster/silica in order to make moulds suitable for melting the 40% Gaffer Glass lead crystal. Once cast the panels were then polished brought to high polish using rociprolaps - a process that took about three months!

We are grateful to the hospital for enabling us to produce such a beautiful sculpture for them and hope that it will bring enjoyment to people for years to come.

See more pictures of the production here

Participants:

Chris Blade - Project Manager; Katya Filmus - artist;  National Glass CentreOne of a set of three cast glass panels for the hospital.2EDM6295 - Version 2


Camel on the Silk Road

November 22, 2012  •  Leave a Comment

Camel on the Silk RoadCamel on the Silk Road

 

I woke very early this morning so decided to devote some time to processing this image of a majestic camel. This was taken on the Silk Road in Inner Mongolia, near the border with China. It is hard to believe that we were actually on the Silk Road - more of a scrubby track a mile wide than a road and that these animals were the vehicles that historically carried goods and facilitated the exchange of cultures and technology from East to West.

 


Bassenthwaite Lake & Dodd Hill from Whinlatter Pass, Lake District

November 22, 2012  •  Leave a Comment
Bassenthwaite Lake & Dodd Hill from Whinlatter Pass, Lake DistrictBassenthwaite Lake & Dodd Hill from Whinlatter Pass, Lake District

Off to the Lake District for a long weekend!

 

Bassenthwaite Lake, owned by the National Park Authority, is one of the largest lakes in the Lake District at 4 miles long and 3/4 mile wide, but also one of the shallowest (70 ft). It is the most northerly of the lakes, and has no major settlements on its shores. It is the only body of water in the Lake District to use the word "lake" in its name, all the others being "waters" (for example, Derwent Water), "meres" (for example Windermere) or "tarns" (for example, Dock Tarn). It is fed by, and drains into, the River Derwent. The lake lies at the foot of Skiddaw, near the town of Keswick.


Sunderland docks - MPI Adventure B&W

November 22, 2012  •  Leave a Comment
Sunderland docks - MPI Adventure B&WSunderland docks - MPI Adventure B&W

MPI Adventure is the world's largest ship for installing wind turbines. It recently spent a few weeks at Sunderland docks, opposite the National Glass Centre. A selection of my photographs of it were recently featured on the Sky news website

http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/47092

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