Horsing Around – The North Lincolnshire Trail
1. Skyscraper – Baysgarth House and Park, Barton upon Humber
Caitlin Smith
Caitlin is a Hull based artist working in sculpture and installation. Her practice is very studio driven. She often experiments using various materials, found objects and colour. Caitlin is fascinated by the functionality of the human body and resonates to George Stubbs’s interests in anatomy. This design is inspired by George Stubbs’s time in Hull and his passion with anatomy of animals, particularly horses. The colours are influenced by Stubbs’s painting – Lord Grosvenor’s Sweet William in a Landscape, 1779. This connects to his work with dissecting horses to Hull Mosaics and reflects his life through the pieces and colours.
with St. Peter & St. Paul Church of England Primary School
We wanted to be involved in Horsing Around because we love art and wanted to learn something new. We enjoyed how peaceful the activity was and we came out feeling calm and inspired to do more artwork at home. Pupils involved: Irmak, Isabella, Alice, Eva, Isla Bleu and Ivy.
2. Spirit – St Maurice’s Church, Horkstow
Jane Johansson
Just as Stubbs revealed the horse’s physical anatomy in his dissections, Spirit delves into the horse’s emotional anatomy. Horses, as sentient beings, possess an empathetic ability to process and mirror emotions. They amplify our joy, absorb our grief, feel our pain, and react to our fear. They respond to our kindness and frustration, carrying these emotions in their bodies as we do. The sculpture’s layers are embedded with an emotional code, featuring over 50 words inscribed on its surface.
with Scunthorpe Museum Society Art Group
The Scunthorpe Museum Society Art Group meets twice a week at St Hugh’s Church Hall, Ashby Road, Scunthorpe. The group is untutored but benefits from a programme of challenges, workshops and organised social events. Members work in whatever medium they choose and on subjects that inspire them. We were delighted to be paired with Jane Johansson and enjoyed sharing our feelings about horses at her inspirational workshop, the results of which are so cleverly here to see.
Find Scunthorpe Museum Art Group on Facebook.
3. 172,748 (Population of North Lincolnshire) – Near Scawby Hall, Scawby
Michael Burkitt
Michael Burkitt’s work is optimistic, creating room for romance, failure, repetition, labour, humour and love. Michael looks to make meaningful connections with audiences or individuals with stories, ideas, objects, films and performances. In this work he represents every single person in North Lincolnshire with a single handmade mark, so we can see each other, all together. The base colour was mixed and chosen to represent North Lincolnshire by fountain arts community group and is inspired by the glow of the steelworks in the sky when slag heaps are tipped.
with fountain arts CiC
fountain arts CIC is a creative arts project for everyone. Our aim is to increase arts engagement in North Lincolnshire by using unused spaces for projects, studios and learning. As part of a colour theory workshop, 12 creative people from the community created a colour palette which reflected North Lincolnshire. HEX #c77128 was selected as a representation of North Lincolnshire’s agricultural past, corrosion of iron and the orange glow of the tipping slag heaps at Scunthorpe steelworks.
4. Lustre – Village Green, Redbourne
Magda Wojtas
Magda’s work is highly influenced by global warming. Microplastics can cause abnormal behaviour within aquatic life. The visual stimulation explores transpersonal psychology through connection to marine life and collective consciousness. The aim is to explore a peaceful way of protesting through pattern and colour. We held a workshop to encourage young pupils to reevaluate their respect for nature by thinking about their favourite seaside memories. By attaching pleasant feelings towards the ocean, one has more capacity to respect and protect it.
with Oasis Academy Parkwood
Oasis Academy Parkwood believes every child can flourish. We are an enthusiastic, enriching, and secure community environment where all are respected and valued. We are excited to be part of the ‘Horsing Around’ project. It’s a unique experience to work with a local, talented artist. The children used boards, sand, paint and seashells in Magda’s workshop. They had the freedom to create whatever they chose. They took inspiration from their own experiences alongside their learning from their art lessons. We were impressed with their creativity, skills and enthusiasm and look forward to everyone enjoying their work.
5. Molly Long Legs: the Patchwork Horse – Central Park, Scunthorpe
Rebecca Ellis
For as long as I can remember, pattern has influenced my work. My love of pattern continued as I explored mixed media in 2022, incorporating wallpapers into my landscapes. In the workshop with Oasis Academy Henderson Avenue, we worked on creating our own individual patterns inspired by nature. These all became a field patch in this patchwork horse. The patchwork fields are topped with a “Sunny Scunny” sunset sky. A pop of bright colour (I can’t resist!) and a tribute to the big skies we get to experience living in North Lincolnshire.
with Oasis Academy Henderson Avenue
As an inclusive Academy for children aged between 4 and 11, we are committed to delivering first-class education and playing an active role in the local community. We were really excited to be asked to be part of Horsing Around! As part of the workshop, our art club looked at pattern designs. We drew on natural inspirations such as bees, butterflies and flowers. Our designs have then been incorporated into the patterns on the horse in Central Park.
6. Firetail – North Lincolnshire Museum, Scunthorpe
Angela Gordon
As a lifelong lover of horses, I am very excited to take part in the Horsing Around project. My horse explores the timeless bond between humans and horses. This special relationship has long been expressed in art. The earliest visual depictions of horses are found on the walls of prehistoric caves. The vivid imagery, portrayed in rich earthy pigments, are the basis for my design. The hand outlines, also found in cave art, represent the enduring connection between humans and horses — a relationship characterized by companionship, trust, and mutual respect.
with the Museum Makers
Museum Makers is a place for individuals with a disability to meet, socialise and explore history. We advise North Lincolnshire Museum on accessibility and curated the Museum Makers exhibition in 2023 which responded to objects in the Museum’s collection. Angela’s workshop was fun, and we were excited to be involved in the design of the horse outside North Lincolnshire Museum. The handprints that you see on the sculpture are our hands. Angela showed us techniques which Prehistoric artists may have used. We really challenged ourselves to get involved and make a mess.
7. Shark – Café Indie, Scunthorpe
Neil Ward
I never played truant on periods which included double art lessons. My earliest memories of enjoying art were drawing Egyptian tombs, Roman soldiers and Vikings longships. While studying painting and decorating at college I learnt signwriting, wood graining and marbling. In adulthood, work has involved the application of paints but on domestic, construction, offshore and nuclear surfaces. Another passion of mine is history. North Lincolnshire is steeped in Viking influences. Scunthorpe translates as Skuma’s homestead. Normanby means north men’s farmstead. The sculpture shows techniques learnt early in my career and combines them with a love of the past.
Café Indie Youth Group
Café INDIE is not-for profit Co-operative café, live music and performance venue. Our ethos revolves around supporting young people aged 13 – 25 in our community. Whether that’s through our youth groups, volunteering programme or our young people taking the reigns themselves in our music development programme. Neil worked with our youth group to produce Viking designs on our horse sculpture. Designs on this horse were inspired by Theo, Jasmine, Finn, Leif and Rudy.
8. Lady Rosaletta – Scunthorpe Central
Robin Stones
What George Stubb’s represents to me, as a transgender, working class person from Scunthorpe is at odds with what he represents in the artistic canon. To me, he signifies elitism and an obscuring of Britain’s colonial past. I saw this as an opportunity to disrupt and subvert our historical narrative. Combining a valuable aspect of heritage, pottery, with designs in Pride colours creates a playful celebration of the queer community. We have always been here.
“It’s so nice to see an older trans person doing things – it just gives me hope, you know?” Rainbow Youth Member.
Rainbow Youth
Rainbow Youth is a group of young people, many of whom identify as LGBTQIA+. Rainbow Youth meets monthly at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre and is run by team members of Scunthorpe Pride. The group is a safe space for young people to be themselves. We really enjoyed working with Robin, who encouraged us to channel our emotions into creativity by decorating pottery with things which make us angry. We then ceremoniously smashed our pottery creations; letting go of our negative emotions.
9. Rafferty – 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe
Julie Oxenforth
Julie Oxenforth makes mixed media artwork that both challenges and inspires joy. She combines painting and construction with found objects, creating installations that invite play, interaction and contemplation. Oxenforth’s task has been to produce a cohesive whole from the designs and mark-making of the Get Crafty participants, input from and relevance to her own creative process, while referencing George Stubb’s life in Lincolnshire. The group looked at the subject of horse and human collaboration, how we treat horses, their symbolism and how their qualities are reflected in our lives.
with Get Crafty
Get Crafty are a group of adults with a disability who meet at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre every Wednesday. Focused on arts and crafts, Get Crafty have developed a series of exhibitions, including Pushing the Boundaries… Breaking the Mould and Legendaries. Julie Oxenforth encouraged individuals to create artworks using mark making in various mediums. These were then dissected and rearranged and the group constructed new designs by contrasting and complementing patterns and marks. This sculpture represents each person’s work in one cohesive and collaborative design.
10. Gimcrack’s Maze – Rural Life Museum, Normanby Hall Country Park
Reginald Swinney
reginaldswinneyillustration.com
Reginald Swinney is a freelance illustrator, currently represented by Lemonade Illustration agency. He works digitally, producing vector based illustrations for a wide variety of genres. The majority of his work is focusing on activity books, work sheets and educational resources for children. He has produced this interactive, stylised map of Normanby Hall Country Park. Why not follow the paths, with your finger, to find your way through the maze and get to the horse.
St. Bernadette’s Catholic Voluntary Academy
St. Bernadette’s Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy offers a rich and wholesome education for 3–11 year old children. We are passionate about inspiring children with the joy of learning and creativity. As part of our workshop with Reginald Swinney we chose the colours you can see on this amazing map!