Category: News

Pete Moorhouse has worked over the past year re-designing and renovating the courtyard in Cotswold Clinic,Southmead Hospital. The previous courtyard was in desperate need of a makeover being unsafe and in a state of disrepair. The new landscaping was designed by Pete Moorhouse and groundworks were carried out by Secret Garden.

Pete involved several schools in the project to create artworks for the new courtyard. He worked with over 150 pupils, by providing workshops to gather designs for the various artworks. The schools involved were Ashley Down Primary School, Colstons Girls School, Hanham High School,Filton Avenue Nursery School and Children’s Centre and Orchard School.

Taking inspiration from the wonderful mature Yucca tree we decided to create a courtyard loosely based on a Moroccan riad.  We took inspiration from Islamic geometric art and features typically found in a riad courtyard, typically a water feature and four fruit trees.

 The idea was to create a space that was relaxing and visually stimulating, that could provide waiting space for patients and a place for staff to take breaks in. I very much believe the environment can have a significant impact on our well being and I was very keen to create a space that would be uplifting and relaxing for patients. I was keen that there be a variety of different artworks – hopefully something for everyone to enjoy. I wanted to create a space that would transport us to another place, transcending the everyday, a distraction from pressing concerns and worries – even if only for a moment. It was wonderful to involve pupils in the project giving them an opportunity to contribute in meaningful way. I was very impressing by their design ideas and also by their sensitivity and concern to make the artworks calm, elevating and engaging for patients.

 With five schools involved – there were many wonderful designs that we weren’t able to realise and I would like to thank all the pupils involved for their wonderful contributions.

Pete Moorhouse is a professional sculptor and artist educator. He exhibits work nationally and has work in several collections both in the UK and overseas. He has previously created work for NBT creating a landmark sculpture for Frenchay Hospital and worked with children to create a wooden wall panel for Southmead Hospital. Pete is currently exhibiting several sculptures at Berwick Lodge in Bristol and is working on several commissions including a sculpture for Brandon Hill Park, Bristol.

Check out the installation Congregation. It is  part of the exhibition at Fresh Air in Quenington.

The biennial sculpture exhibition that provides a unique opportunity to see a creative mixture of traditionally modern and cutting-edge contemporary work in a stunning outdoor setting.

Fresh Air 2013 will take place from Sunday June 16th until Sunday July 7th.

Open 10am – 5pm every day including Sundays. Admission is £2.50p for adults over 18yrs, children 18 yrs and under free. On Sunday 23rd June there will be an entry charge of £5 in aid of the National Gardens Scheme.

All artists work will be for sale at prices ranging from £50 – £50,000.

Catalogues will be for sale at £5.

Refreshments will be available: light lunches and teas by 7a of Fairford.

 

 

Pete is exhibiting works at Berwick Lodge throughout 2013. See the sculptures and combine your visit with afternoon tea, fine dining in the restaurant or an overnight stay. The hotel gardens provide a wonderful location to view the sculptures in the outdoor environment. In addition in the gardens there are several neo-classical sculptures.

Berwick Lodge opened in September 2009 as a  luxury hotel and restaurant following five years of total regeneration and restoration by its private owners.

This stunning hotel and fine dining restaurant, has been lovingly restored to its former grandeur, to create a totally unique venue, blending the spirit and romance of the arts and crafts movement, with a touch of the East.

Berwick Lodge provides a totally unique experience, located high on a hill surrounded by 18 acres of private garden and woodland, yet incredibly just 5 minutes from the M4/M5 motorway and 15 minutes from Bristol City Centre.

Berwick provides the perfect exclusive venue for a luxury stay in the South West, fine dining, wedding ceremonies or receptions, or for private hire and exclusive use for that special occasion.  Plus it has its own dedicated conference facilities and lively cookery school, located adjacent to the hotel in the beautifully converted stables.

As a privately owned and run hotel and restaurant the service is as you’d expect – impeccable – yet relaxed and friendly. A visit to Berwick Lodge will, quite simply, dazzle your senses!

 

Magical driftwood horses with flowing manes, towering Islamic stainless steel sculptures, shimmering silver birds and ceramic water bowls inspired by water lilies in Thailand are just a few of the delights to be seen at the Botanic Garden this Easter.  Designs have been created in wood, stone, metalwork, ceramics, steel and stained glass.

“This exhibition enables visitors to see the uniqueness of the plant collections at the Botanic Garden in a different light, as a context for displaying sculpture inspired by the natural world” explains Curator, Nicholas Wray. “The garden provides the stimulus and setting to inspire students and provide a backdrop to their work in a range of educational artistic activities.”

Sculptors are selected on the basis of the range of mediums used to illustrate possibilities and inspire students who visit the botanic garden.

A major theme at the garden is the study of pollination. This is achieved in a highly creative manner by the installations of our willow weavers dotted around the garden. An additional way of capturing the garden’s surprises is through the camera lens. In particular, the Chinese Medicinal Herb Garden offers plenty of inspiration on even the dullest of days with its architectural plants, bamboo laing and moon gate.

This was a hugely popular event last year and promises to be even more inspirational this year.

Friday 29th March until Monday 1st April – 10:00 until 17:00

Price £3.50

Free entry to Friends of the garden, University students and staff, and children under 16.

Refreshments available

Pete Moorhouse at the Botanic Garden, Bristol

 

This work was installed at the Quenington Sculpture Trust ready for the exhibition in June.

It is an installation of thirty stainless steel heads that gently move in the wind. The stainless steel captures the surrounding as well as heads reflecting on each other. It can be interpreted to contain hidden dialogues and refers to our collective consciousness.

 

 

 

 

 

Pete delivered a keynote speech at the South Gloucestershire Early Years Conference. 250 delegates attended the conference at the University of the West of England from the south west region. Pete’s presentation was about creativity, Reggio Emila and woodwork in Early Years education. He was joined by Professor Mari Mori from Japan, a leading thinker in Early Years pedagogy.

 

Pete Moorhouse won the commission to create a new sculpture for Brandon Hill in Bristol. The project will involve the Friends of Brandon Hill and local schools. The sculpture is due to be completed by the summer.

This sculpture was installed today. Its is 2 tonnes and made from ships plate. It was installed by engineers from Falmouth Ship Yard.  It was a complex design needing precise calculations but fortunately the installation went smoothly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This sculpture can be seen to be a deconstruction of a sphere with the circular arcs forming lines along a sphere.Meridian means an imaginary circle on a plane through a sphere. The name Meridian comes from the Latin and means midday – and the sculpture could be seen to represent the sun. The construction can also loosely can be seen to resemble a megalithic Cornish quoit with the four elements balanced together.

 

Essentially it is an abstract work exploring sculptural form and the interaction of the flanges.  It is constructed from ship plate steel and was fabricated by fabricators from Falmouth Dry Dock.

The steel sculpture, Zenith was installed in Cornwall. Installed during high wind and rain, fabricators from Falmouth Ship Yard battled the elements to erect the 2 tonne artwork.  This sculpture can be seen to encompass a spherical form – defined by the negative space. The surrounding steel forms an endless path along the circumference of the sphere.

 

 

 

 

The artwork responds to the location of The Homestead with the open vistas and the sphere could be seen to relate to the sun and moon. The sculpture is designed so that it can function as a gateway with a pathway passing through the sphere.  The sculpture is deliberately kept minimal paying attention to clean lines and strong form.

The sculpture is constructed from ships plate steel and fabricated using ship building techniques.  The name Zenith means an imaginary point above a location and comes from the Arabic – meaning “a way” or “the road above one’s head”

 

The final work  from the Concorde Cycle Path project was installed. The project involved pupils from Patchway Community College, Bradley Stoke Community College and Abbey Wood Community College.

 

 

 

This artwork was part funded by John Lewis.  The work is sited at Cribbs Causeway close to the Mall entrance. The intention of the work is to draw attention to the fact that there is now a cycle path that connects with the Mall with central Bristol and to encourage cycling   in general.