Norfolk Heritage and Arts UK Sue Walker White

Capturing Our Wayland Heritage Project

2011-12-30T00:39:00.001Z

At present I have just finished a 3 year project working as the Heritage Officer for the 'Capturing Our Wayland Heritage' based in Watton, Norfolk. To find out more about the project please visit http://wayland-heritage.blogspot.com/

1862 Barrel Organ at Wood Rising Church, Norfolk.

2010-03-08T16:53:00.001Z

Bringing Back the Brasses to Binham

2008-10-13T16:37:00.017Z

It has been wonderful to have the chance of bringing back brasses to the church at Binham, as part of the lottery funded Binham Priory Access & Conservation Project. The recreation of the four figures will bring back some of the faces of people from the history of the Priory church. On the nave floor close to the altar there are five indents where figure brasses have been removed. One of the brasses of a civilian man of about 1530 still survives but is not in situ, he was removed for safe keeping after his wife was stolen in the 1980s. Luckily a brass rubbing of the pair survives so we have an exact copy of what she looked like. From the outline of two of the other indents it is possible to tell that they were brasses of parish priests or monks.

Bringing back the lost images to the church as tactile brasses once more is a very interesting project. Reuniting the images of the couple from the 1530s has been very satisfying, and searching for close matches for the two ecclesiastical brasses has been a challenge. I found a good parallel for the brass of the head and shoulders indent at Binham, in the brass of a priest at near by South Creake church. I am very grateful to the Vicar of South Creak for his help and permission to take a rubbing of the brass.

A full length indent at Binham is very similar to that of a monk's brass in St Alban's Cathedral, as Binham Priory was the daughter house of St Albans Abbey and several monks from there moved to Binham, it seemed fitting to use the image. To get the brasses cast it was necessary to make scale drawings of the images (that of the monk is shown above), these where then photographically etched into thick zinc sheet, this was then used to make a mold to cast the brasses in.

The four brasses form the main feature of a children's area, as an activity for young visitors, families and school groups. They were mounted on a specially designed wooden support fixed to the back of one of the Victorian pine pews. It is made to pull out to form a brass rubbing platform, and fold flat as a display when not in use. A set of four children's' 'Discovery Sheets' accompany the brasses, each one looks at aspects of the contemporary life they each would have known. The discovery sheets and plain paper for taking rubbing are housed in a purpose built holder on the side of the pew.

The small finds from the excavations of the Priory in the 1930s include several sizable pieces of monumental brass. They were part of one or more decorative canopies that would have surrounded a large figure brass. I would date the design of canopy to around 1400. A recent find by Cliff and Sue Hudson has provided a clue to the type of figure brass that may have stood under the canopy. They have found the knee section of a brass of a Knight in armour, which is nearly life sized. This high quality brass memorial would have been set in a stone tomb slab on the floor of the Priory church, in front or close to the altar. It probably depicts one of the patrons of the Priory who was buried in the church with the expectation that the monks would be forever praying for his soul. Who could this knight have been?

(Left) An illustration of the type of figure brass and canopy that was once in the church at Binham.

(Below) The excavated brass canopy fragments. You can see more images
here http://www.flickr.com/photos/suewhite/sets/72157603909944709/

Caistor Roman Town Reconstruction Painting

2008-07-09T02:42:00.001Z

Watercolour reconstruction painting of the central area of the Roman town at Caistor St Edmund, a few miles south of Norwich, Norfolk. The illustration was commissioned by the Norfolk Archaeological Trust.

Gayton Thorpe, Norfolk. Reconstruction of Roman Villa.

2008-07-08T13:20:00.004Z

I have just revisited an earlier reconstruction I created as a black and white line drawing and added colour to it, for it to be used in the new displays in the Boudica gallery in Norwich Castle Museum.

New Exhibition 'Art of Norwich'

2008-04-07T13:23:00.005Z

Opening day of the new group exhibition, 'Art of Norwich' on 7th April. It was a very lively launch and it was wonderful to meet so many interesting artist and photographers. I sold two small pieces on the first day which was very encouraging.

'Art of Norwich' at St Margaret's Church, St Benedict's Street, Norwich from Monday 7th April to Saturday 19th April 2008.

St Benet's Abbey Guidebook Launched

2008-03-21T12:23:00.020Z

The new guidebook for St Benet's Abbey was launched this week by the Bishop of Norwich, it will sell for £3.50. It was written by Tim Pestell and published by the Norfolk Archaeological Trust, who commissioned me to create a reconstruction painting of the Abbey.

The book launch took place in the vestry of Norfolk Cathedral. The vestry has two walls panelled with carved oak panelling that came from the Abbey after it pass into the ownership of the Bishop of Norwich in 1536. The panels were originally in the Bishop's Palace and were later moved into the vestry. The carvings are not of religious figures but secular classical characters including Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great and Penelope the wife of hero Odysseus. The carvings show the characters in the fashions of the 1530s, the bottom panels are a fine example of the 'linen-fold' style of panel carving. One of the panels has the carved arms of St Benet's Abbey.

The first step of creating the reconstruction painting for the guidebook was to chose the angle of view that would be most useful to a visitor to the site. As visitors from land and water will be entering the site close to the gatehouse/windmill I chose that area as the foreground for the painting. The next thing to do was to find an ariel view of the site from that direction, we are lucky in Norfolk to have two wonderful collection of photographs taken by Derek Edwards that is housed in the Landscape Archaeology Section at Gressenhall and those taken by Mike Page an independent photographer (there is a link to his website on this page). The photograph I used as a base was one of Derek Edwards. I then collected all the other available information from different sources including the detailed earthwork survey that was produced by the Royal Commission and a geophys survey. Ariel photographs of the Abbey taken over the years showed crop-marks in the grass, these all added to the detailed evidence of the buildings that once stood on the site. There were also early photographs, engravings and drawings in the counties public collections and the British Library that showed some of the buildings and features that have now disappeared. Working with Tim Pestell and Stephen Heywood we pulled the evidence together and I drew the reconstruction, the result is show below.

Binham Priory Project

2008-02-15T18:56:00.030Z

I have recently finished the very interesting project of writing the interpretive plan for Binham Priory. It have been an exciting voyage of discovery which has revealed a wonderfully rich history. The results of the excavations on the site in the 1930s have not been investigated in any depth until now. Reports are being prepared on the pottery and carved stonework from the excavations. I have photographed the small finds and a large quantity of the painted window glass, as the first stage of its investigation. The realization of the proposals for the interpretation of the Priory and the display of objects will be the next stage.

There is an attractive seal impression on lead (below) c1100 (above), showing the scene of the Annunciation, with the angel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary. It seems to be a small version of the Priory seal at 25 x25mm. The version of the Priory seal held by the Public Record Office, E42/399 is 70x51mm, and dates to 1120-40. It has a different and more detailed depiction of the Annunciation with the positions of Mary and the angel reversed, its legend runs SIGILLVM ECCL’IE BE. MARIE DE BINEHAM. The Vigil of the Annunciation was the date of the first day of the annual four-day fair at Binham.

In working on the interpretive plan over the last few months I have spent a lot of time in the Priory, and on one of the days the light in the church was magical and I filmed the following video:

Norfolk Floods 1953 - 2007

2007-11-09T02:13:00.000Z

Norfolk Floods

Ariel photograph of the 1953 flood of Great Yarmouth

This ariel photograph was taken after the peak of the flood. It is a very scratched and poor quality thin negative, this is as much as I can get from it. What will Great Yarmouth look like in the morning?

I am here in Mid Norfolk, I am lucky I do not live on the coast anymore, but I grew on it. I will be saying up to hear what is happening as the night goes on. My farther Billy Bishop took part in a well known rescue at Cley - on - Sea in 1953. He died aged 96 in June this year. His account of the 1953 flood were terrifying. The tidal surge that is on its way at this moment is as large as the 1953 surge. It is 1.45am and the first road has just been closed due to flooding and there is another 5-6 hours to peak high tide. People are out sight seeing at the moment with young children in Gt Yarmouth, I hope people will take this seriously. I have posted a photograph of Gt Yarmouth after the 1953 Flood to show what happened then.

It is 4.18 am now and the coast road at Salthouse has just been closed. The local radio Norfolk is giving good coverage of the Yarmouth area, but nothing is being said of the North Norfolk area. The road at Walcott has is also closed now at 4.30am.

We seem to have had a lucky escape, compared with what could have happened. Poor Walcott seems to have been the worst effected place and Cromer lost a lot of its beach huts. The salt marshes at Salthouse and Cley are still flooded on 14th Nov.

Saints & Sinners - Norwich Fringe Festival Art Trail 2007

2007-09-23T11:41:00.000Z

My four environmental works 'Saints or Sinners' are now in place at Will Giles's Exotic Garden as part of the Norwich Fringe Festival Art Trail 2007. It is such a wonderful place, we were lucky to have a warm sunny afternoon to install them. The close association of the works with the range of prickly arid desert plants in this area of the garden emphasizes the global warming theme.
Thanks to Will and my husband Julian for all their help.

Installing Saints and Sinners 1
© Sue White

Norwich Fringe Festival, Art Trail, Saints or Sinners

2007-09-18T13:36:00.000Z

I have now almost completed my two new works for the summer house at the top of Will Giles's exotic garden. It is such a wonderful location a work of art in its own right, I am honored to be able to work with in it. The two works are a pair and relate to the climate change area of the garden which Will has designed for plants that will thrive with global warming. In my work I am looking at the different facets of us all learning to cope with the reality of climate change and our ways of responding to it. What morels come into play when the stakes are so high.

The main feature of these two works are feathers, all found in the wild around Norfolk. The feathers/blades represent the double edged sword dilemma of the wind turbine. A bird's feather has been seen as a thing of beauty from ancient times, while the sight of a turbine blade for many is ugly. The proposals for building wind turbines give rise to very strong feelings and the formation of anti turbine protests groups. Yet other groups of people see elegance in the form and function of wind turbines and have no objections, but as yet I am not aware of groups of local people forming pro turbine groups. The shape of a wing feather and turbine blade is very similar as their functions are similar and the symbolism is powerful, so what role is our aesthetics having in shaping and saving our world?

One consequence of the strong local protest lobbies against wind turbines/farms has had the effect of pushing the construction of them off shore. A sure case of out of sight, out of mind.
A larger offshore wind-farm of up to 108 turbines is planned off of the North Norfolk coast in 2008; it will be visible on clear days from the shore. The formation of the wind-farm will be a symmetrical grid of turbines forming a diamond or lozenge shape 12km long. A large example of Sir Thomas Brown's quincunx grid. This area is of great importance to birds. Four birds species: Red Throated Diver, Terns , Greater Black backed Gull and the Scoter Duck, have been identified as at risk from fatal bird strike with the rotors and disturbance from badly sited wind farms. The effect on the wider range of bird and sea life is unpredictable. It may also affect the local fishing industry. However as the RSPB state “If global warming is not halted it will be the greatest threat to biodiversity worldwide”. Creating a greener national electricity grid is an essential part of that process. Are wind turbines part of out salvation? Are they saints or sinners?

The significance of the symbolism of three elements joined in the center as the sign of the Holy Trinity has also impacted greatly on my work. The spiritual effect of the world being in the grips of elemental powers that are beyond human control has influenced my work. The thought of winged guardian angels keeping watch over life on earth is a very comforting concept. For centuries the carved angels of Norfolk's medieval church roofs have kept watch over the congregations. Linking the concepts of spiritual, elemental and man-made power form another trinity.

© Sue White

New Exhibition MEMENTOS AND MASTERPIECES

2007-09-05T18:36:00.000Z

I was pleased to hear I have had three works selected to show in the exhibition
MEMENTOS AND MASTERPIECES. Norwich Arts Centre are putting on a photography exhibition in September called ‘Mementos and Masterpieces: photographic responses to public sculpture and monuments in Norfolk and Norwich. It is an exhibition of creative (not documentary) responses to local public sculptures and monuments. The exhibition is open 10am-7pm Monday to Saturday from 13th September until 1st October.

One of the images selected is shown above 'City Hall Lion' © Sue White

Warham Camp, Iron Age Fort

2007-08-29T23:29:00.000Z

Warham Camp is one of my favorite archaeological and wildlife sites. The grassy ramparts of the fort form a rare chalk downland habitat for Norfolk. The flora is wonderful wild thyme, hair bell and rock rose are some of the miniature marvels to be found there.

At the moment the south side of the inner ramparts are suffering very badly from to many rabbits burrowing into them. The interpretation panel I produced over 10 years ago has not faded and is still doing its job.

Gayton Thorpe Roman Villa

2007-07-25T00:53:00.002Z

I shot the video below on 26th August last year 2006 while visiting the re-excavation of the villa. It was wonderful to stand within the walls of the villa that I had drawn a reconstruction of about 10 years ago. I did not think I would ever get to see the mosaic floor that was published in the 1920s.
To find out more about the results of the project go to the Links Section on this site.

Grandford Video

2007-07-12T18:12:00.003Z

My first venture into putting any of my filming on to the WWW. This is a personal little clip I made on our 13 anniversary on 9 July. Glandford is a place close to my heart, I remember feeding ducks here from about the age of 3. It was one of the first places I ever painted a picture of. My Dad grew up in the next village of Cley and he played here as a boy. Glandford was the home village of my great grandmother. I love the unchanged atmosphere of the ford crossing the Glaven river, the sounds take me straight back to my childhood. The chimes of the church bells ringing out over the countryside is so evocative of a past age. I hope these 100 year old echoes from 1906 will continue to delight for centuries to come.

The church has a carillon of twelve bells, on which the clock strikes, and on which hymn tunes are played at noon, three, six and nine o clock, and so on every three hours. A different tune is played each day from the following hymns:-
"Once in Royal David's city", "Jerusalem on high", "On the Resurrection morning", "The Saints of God", "On the happy Easter morn", "Every morning the red sun", "There is a fountain filled with blood".

Good end to slash07 exhibition

2007-06-24T12:10:00.000Z

In Hot Water © Sue White
It is good to be able to look at the positive side of life after so much that has happened in the last few weeks. I had the most wonderful end to the exhibition just a few minutes after the close of show I sold my second piece of work. A limited edition digital archive print titled 'In hot water' 1/100. It is so encouraging when someone relates to what you are trying to say through your work.
The first piece to be sold was on the same theme but in a different media of digital print on glass.

The piece came about as I was having a bath on a sunny afternoon, listening to BBC radio 4. One program ended and another started, it was on the advancing desertification in different areas of the world. As I lay there in a deep bath listening, playing with the patterns made by the reflections of my pink toenails, I realized the irony of the scene. It represented the pure luxury of having water to spare and power to heat it. The unthinking decadence of it seemed highlighted by my pink toenails and the shiny chrome as they gleamed in the sunlight. I hopped out to get my camera so I could capture the moment.

The second element in the image of the cracked earth came from a trip to the bird reserve at Holme on the north Norfolk coast. Seeing the dried pool brought back the bath experience and the image of a lone bath time yellow plastic duck sat on the cracked mud just sprung into my mind. A really strong dark image of loss, threat and vulnerability. The resulting image I produced when I got home can be seen at the very bottom of this blog site. It was a few months later that I thought to combine the two images to form 'In Hot Water'. I worked with a mix of digital photography, Photoshop and drawing to produce the image.

Lost (Pink) © Sue White
limited edition digital print on glass.

Slash07 Exhibition

2007-06-22T15:36:00.000Z

The exhibition has one more day to run. Judging by the comments in the visitors book it has been a great success. St Margaret's is a lovely building to exhibit in. I have enjoyed taking part, our varied work has harmonised together really well. I feel we have succeeded in what we set out to do as Slash07.

Wind Spirts 1
©Sue White 2007

Wind Spirit Tribute

2007-06-19T12:47:00.000Z

The loss of my father and the opening of my first group exhibition happening together are a coming of age marker point in my life.

I have dedicated this piece of work to my father as it was in progress at the time of his death. The spiritual element of the piece took on new meaning as I worked on it.

Wind Spirit Tribute. © Sue White

Turning Point

2007-06-16T15:29:00.001Z

This last month has been like no other. Away for 17 days in the isle of Eigg, back on May 27th. A few days before the joint birthday of my dad (Billy Bishop) and husband Julian on 1st June. I had planned to have two weeks in which to finish pieces for my first group exhibition 'Slash07' opening on the 12th June in Norwich.

The phone rang at 9am on 1st June the morning of dad's 96th birthday, it was dad's care home 'we should go over quickly he was unresponsive and not at all well, an ambulance was on the way'. We got to the Maltings in Fakenham, paramedics and doctors came and went, dad rallied after some intravenous glucose. Relief he was nearly back to normal, he stuck his tongue out at Karly one of his lovely young carers, she returned the complement saying 'don't worry we always do this, Billy is fascinated by my pierced tongue'. Two of his other daughters came we sung happy birthday and he was able to blow out the four candles on his cake, and enjoy piece with a mug of tea, we left so he could get some rest. Later his son and one of his grand daughters popped in and he was still doing well. However at 8pm another phone call from the care home, a turn for the worse, a fast drive to Fakenham arriving just as the ambulance was leaving with a blue light to King's Lynn Hospital. I had 5 quiet minuets with him before he died. Dad's Funeral was yesterday.

Dad was my root to feeling a sense of place, of belonging, the essence of Norfolk and continuety with the generations of my ancestors who have lived from the land and sea of north Norfolk. I am a part of him and them and I am proud of it.

Inspiration on Eigg

2007-06-16T10:28:00.000Z

I went away to the Isle of Eigg from May 9th to 27th. An inspirational place, with its wild landscape of rocky highlands, so different from Norfolk. We stayed in a croft house with no electricity, lit by gas lamps and candles.
The bird-life on the island is one of it's greatest draws. We had a corncrake calling day and night circling our cottage, who would never let itself be seen. It's call was accompanied during the day by ravens, cuckoos and sedge warblers, at night by the ghostly call of nesting shearwaters on the rock cliffs. Eigg was just the place to spend time working in more depth on my currant work on the form of birds and their feathers. The relationship between birds and wind turbines was also an issue on the island. Eigg is in the process of installing a electrical supply for the island powered by environmentally friendly sources, including three wind turbines. Through careful siting agreed with local wildlife experts they will be placed on a part of the island where conflict with bird activity will be minimal.
The first thing I felt drawn to do was to make a quill pen from a feather found on the beach. This seemed fitting not only for the low tech atmosphere of the croft house, but I also wanted to work in the most direct way with the subject of my study. I found the wing feather washed up on the beach, it was probably from a gull or a gannet. I have worked with metal nib pens for many years producing archaeological finds drawings, loving the directness and subtlety that can be archived in the quality of the line. Cutting the feather in to a nib was a lot harder than I have envisaged. The quill got shorter and shorter with each attempt, until on the fourth cut it worked. Not the finest of nibs but it was my own and it was a thrill to work with it. My first sketch made with it was of a seabird.

Submission for Norwich Fringe Festival

2007-04-28T11:17:00.000Z

Wind Turbines Saints/Sinners

This is a mock up for a current work in progress for location in St Margaret's Church, Norwich. It is one of many site specific works I am working on at the moment.
It is constructed of white feathers suspended as a veil. The pattern reflects the three blades of a wind turbine and the grid they form on mass. The feather/blades represent the double edged sword dilemma of the wind turbine. The are many facets to this such as; a bird's feather is seen as a thing of beauty but the sight of a turbine blade
for many is ugly. Yet the shape of both is very similar as their functions are similar. Badly sited wind turbines kill and disturb birds, yet the main threat to bird life are the effects of global warming.
I like using the context of the church as this piece also recognizes the significance of the symbolism of three joined in the center as the sign of the Holy Trinity. Are wind turbines part of out salvation?

Other works I want to produce will introduce movement into the pieces. I have plans for a large scale hanging mobile. I hope I will have the chance to add some of my work to the art trail around the city.

New Work for Exhibition in June 2007

2007-04-11T01:13:00.000Z

New work produced for the Slash07 Exhibition 11th to 23rd June at
St Margaret's
Church,
St. Benedicts Street, Norwich.
Please come and
view more of my work and that of the other seven members of the group.

Form/Function

2007-01-05T01:39:00.000Z

I see the dominant “Spirit of the Age” as our awareness of global warming, and the struggle to come to terms with it. The icon of this for me is the large wind turbine. Wind farms are a growing and powerful presence in our land and seascapes. The range of reactions to them fascinates me, and the proposed locations for them always seem to be highly controversial. An offshore wind-farm of 30 turbines off of Cromer has consent and should be under construction shortly. A second larger offshore wind-farm of up to 108 turbines is planned off of Salthouse; it will be visible on clear days. The formation of the wind-farm will be a symmetrical grid of turbines forming a diamond or lozenge shape 12km long. There will be strong opposition as the area is of great importance to birdlife. Four birds species have been identified as at risk from fatal bird strike with the rotors, and the effect on the wider range of bird and sea life is unpredictable. It may also affect the local fishing industry. However as the RSPB state “If global warming is not halted it will be the greatest threat to biodiversity worldwide”. Creating a greener national electricity grid is an essential part of that process.

In my recent work I have been exploring some of these issues looking at contradictions between: strong resistance to change / urgent need for change, selfishness/sacrifice, winners/losers, saints/sinners, iconic Norfolk windmills (Cley) good/wind turbines bad. I find the form of the three blade rotors beautiful and the motion mesmerising. The form and function of a rotor blade is similar to that of a bird’s wing feather and the symbolism is powerful. The iconography of the pattern of three formed by the rotor blades and the hub has a deeper significance as the sign of the Holy Trinity, the magic pre-Christian Celtic symbol of the Triskele and the anti nuclear logo of CND.

Advent Image

2006-12-30T13:54:00.000Z

Flower Illustration

2006-12-21T05:43:00.001Z

Sue White ©

Illustration on BBC's Unearthing Mysteries Web Page

2006-12-21T04:23:00.002Z

In the new series of Radio 4's Unearthing Mysteries Aubrey Manning visits Norwich Castle Museum to hear about Prastagus the husband of Boadica, Queen of the Iceni. My pen and ink drawing of a coin of Prastagus was used to illustrate the supporting BBC web page. It is the only known image of the Iceni King. Listen to the programme on http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/unearthingmysteries.shtml

My Work

2006-12-20T23:51:00.000Z

QUALIFICATIONS
1972-6 Great Yarmouth Art College:
A level Art, A level Calligraphy
East Anglian Certificate in Design, Distinction.
Diploma in Art and Design.
1992-3 UEA: Certificate in Environmental and Heritage Interpretation

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
1980 Elected to full membership of the Chartered Society
of Designers. Graphic Design, MCSD, Chartered Designer.
1980 Elected to full membership of the Association of
Archaeological Illustrators and Surveyors. MAAIS,

AWARD
1987 Joint illustrator of Winner of the Carnegie Award,
non-fiction book. Eigg–an Island Landscape.
1994 Winner of the Interpret Britain Award. For work at
Caistor Roman Town, Norfolk.
1994 Winner of British Archaeological Award for
best-presented archaeological site.
1995 Anglian Water Environmental Award.

CAREER PATH
1977-1991 Senior Illustrator
1991-2001 Graphics & Interpretation Office.
For the Field Archaeology Section of the Norfolk
Museumsand Archaeology Service.
2002- Freelance artist and interpreter

PUBLICATIONS
From 1977 to 1991 the majority of my work was in the
form of fine line illustration for publication in numerous
archaeological reports. Illustration of important finds
made by metal detectorists continued up to 2005.
Most were published in the academic journals
East Anglian Archaeology and Norfolk Archaeology.
These drawings number in the thousands. I have also
undertaken freelance commissions for artwork to illustrate
19 popular publications between 1981-2006.

INTERPRETATION PROJECTS
From 1990 onwards my work has mostly been site-specific
interpretation installations, for sites of archaeological and
environmental importance. My involvement includes
research, creation of interpretive plans, text, design of
exhibitions and on-site graphic and tactile panels, interactive
exhibits/events, photography, illustration and reconstruction
paintings. I have completed 35 projects for a range of clients
include: English Heritage, English Nature,
Norfolk Rural Life Museum, South Norfolk Council,
Norfolk Archaeological Trust, Borough Council of Great
Yarmouth, Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Breckland Council,
Brecks Project, Forest Enterprise, Norwich Fringe Project,
Norfolk Historic Buildings Trust, Colchester Museum and
Norfolk Museums and Archaeological Services.