Mick Smith
Bio
Mick is an artist based in the N.E. of England with an interest in exploring our Industrial Heritage through painting and sculpture. Mick delivers art classes at all levels and is often involved in Community Projects.
Stories (3)
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New Teeth For The Old Cog
Mick will provide Machine Still Life workshops for adults, giving special attention to attracting Working Class or those people who would not normally attend art events. He will also host workshops for children based upon the heritage of their area culminating with a large outdoor sculpture at the Bostey Youth Centre. Of further interest his wife Aly will be producing a book telling the stories and history of the parents/grand parents of the Bostey kids - Walker having once been a proud centre of shipbuilding and heavy industry, now sadly all closed and the area impoverished. Wonder leads to interest and interest leads to learning - can we in some small way enrich the future of this community? (This project is kindly funded by Arts Council England).
By Mick Smith2 years ago in Journal
New Teeth For The Old Cog
These iron sculptures tend not to be a very commercial art form, often rusty or oily or both and very heavy - not suitable for a delicate mantlepiece in a neat home. Therefore paintings of the sculptures will be made available to the buying public and will, alongside research material, be included in future exhibitions.
By Mick Smith2 years ago in Art
New Teeth For The Old Cog
New Teeth explores the past machinery of our Industrial Heritage, repurposing it as sculpture. These machines, once in everyday use and familiar to our working class ancestors, cause us to stop and think "What is it for?", "How does it work?", "If only I look at it a bit longer I may be able to fathom it out". Taking this idea a bit further the sculpture moves a step or two away from the original purpose of the machines they are based upon, provoking even further thoughts within the viewer - remember as children our first visit to a museum in the days before everything was clearly explained and cleverly curated, we wandered about in awe and wonder, indeed the museum was in effect a sort of Wonderkammer - will a modern viewer of my sculpture wander and wonder?
By Mick Smith2 years ago in Art
