Level 2 Art
Giorgia Green OCAD Art Award
Peggy Angus was my Great Great Aunt. She was the 11th child of 13. She was born in Chile to Scottish family and her father, David Angus, was building the railways from the top of South America to the bottom.
She moved back to London when she was 5.
She studied at the Royal College of Art and she became a teacher at the North London Collegiate School. She was friends with Ishbel MacDonald who was the daughter of the Prime Minister (Ramsey MacDonald) and painted a picture of their family at 10 Downing Street. She became very interested in politics because of her friend.
She became known because of her unusual printed tiles and wallpaper.
Her tiles can be found all around London - in a pub in Charing Cross, in Lansbury Lawrence School and in Gatwick and Heathrow airports.
I decided to base my ideas on printing, bees and nature. Initially I thought of designing a tile mural of my own with each tile a different art style. I definitely wanted to use lino printing. I thought about how I would connect each tile if I used different techniques and materials.
By bringing in the idea of a quilt, I was bringing in the extended family. Everyone in our family who knew her has fond, funny memories of her, and the quilt brings about a feeling of comfort that family brings, reflecting our family memories of Peggy.
The quilt didn’t come out as I originally expected, I think it is better than I expected it to be. The emotion from the original idea has evolved. I hadn’t realised how much a bee’s life and surroundings link to how a quilt feels.
The final piece captures a lot and wallpaper designs of feelings and emotions that I didn’t realise I could create in a piece of art. Murals tend to be more public whereas quilts are very personal and homely. I hadn’t originally intended for it to become a quilt, but it works, reflecting Peggy, my family, me and the story of the bees.
We think this personal touch added such a lovely dimension to this piece. The variety of media and techniques over 20 tiles (!) shows the diverse range of skills Ariel has. Carefully put together to make a sequence of colours and textures, really stood out to us.
We are sure many of you will agree this is a piece of many skills and deserves to be in the vote!
Congratulations Ariel, your hard work and passion for art is showcased with this amazing final quilt and we are so proud of what you achieved