October | 2014 | Rebecca Buck

From the outset the many people from Arts Care Gofal Celf, Gwalia and Mynydd Marw involved in this 2 year , multi-fasceted, Baring Foundation ‘Yma a Nawr’ project have put in their all to make it out-standing. After the excellent Installation of the Sirhowy Wyvern I knew that Andrew Preece and his team at Smartfix Property Maintenance would also do whatever it takes to make this Sculpture look fantastic. They are incredibly picky and fastidious, it’s marvellous. Best materials,committed craftsmanship, and they always stick to the Budget no matter how much extra time they have to put in.

Smartfix Property Maintenance at Mynnyd Mawr, Tumble

Smartfix Property Maintenance at Mynydd Mawr, Tumble

Moving the heavy sections around meant 4 men had to be on site.

The 2 bottom sections are lowered over rebars set into the solid plinth and foundations.

It was critical to get the position of these first sections correct.

The sections are filled with concrete and left overnight to set.

Once everything has set the supports can be removed and the joints pointed.

The charming tiles, made by pupils at Llannon Primary School and residents at Mynnyd Mawr are laid out in a measured pattern.

The charming tiles, made by pupils at Llannon Primary School and residents at Mynydd Mawr are laid out in a measured pattern.

Andrew and Phil set the tiles.

I did the glass with Andrew.

This time Steve (http://www.stephenfootephotography.co.uk) wanted to make sure that as well as a set of beautiful images each,

we also all left with the understanding of how to use house-hold items , our own cameras and versions of Photo-shop to get quality photos of our work regularly.

We all participated in the making of images of each other’s work and there was a great level of discussion and evaluation of what we are all doing.

As well as keeping the cost down (each person paid £40), one of the benefits of these collective Shoots is seeing your work through the eye of the Camera and of your peers; you spot flaws and successes that you might miss alone in your Studio. And it is always very encouraging to be with like-minded people. We agreed not to sugar-coat our feed-back and between us we had a great deal of expertise. The day was really interesting and inspiring.