Natural geometric art
This post is an introduction to Winston Plowes, Land Artist. We wanted to shine a light on Winston's art as we share a passion for geometric shapes and patterns, something that got us talking and who knows, it could lead to a shirt...or two!
We also love Winston's passion for and care of nature, and all things natural. Repurposing the items that he finds in nature into these fascinating pieces of art. We've previously talked about the power of the Pentagon shape and the triangle - which have served as inspirations for our work, and Winston's.
Who is Winston Plowes?
First things first, Winston lives and works in The Calder Valley, West Yorkshire, UK. He teaches art and creative writing in local schools and to adult groups across a wide variety of settings. For the past sixteen years he has lived on a boat on The Rochdale Canal where he is regularly visited by his 'spiritual advisers', Ringo and Maureen - the Canada geese.
He makes environmental art by experimenting with what he finds in nature. Natural objects or pieces of larger natural objects that he discovers. Winston fully embraces the never ending gift of random chance. His work explores ways to formalise the coincidental and emphasise patterns that are often hidden in plain sight.
His process
For Winston, it's all about observing and capturing what many other people miss. His art responds directly to his surroundings and often evolves from a random incident. On other occasions, the art grows from an idea and a sketch in his notebook.
He refers to his process as 'framing', sometimes these framed instances could go unnoticed in their original context. Winston aims to shine a light on them, bringing them front of mind for more people.
Where to see his work
His work is always published online (Facebook) and exhibited across local West Yorkshire galleries. His following is all organic, later this year Winston will be a featured artist at the European Land Art Festival, held in Dunbar during July.
Inspiration
Winston's art owes its life and/or death to nature's elements. A light breeze or a sudden change in its direction, the onset of rain or the cooling of the night, the inherent strength of fragile materials or simply the passage of time.
Winston has been creating land art for some time, he sees it as a progression, a natural process that he is travelling through. A journey, where the more he works with natural materials, the more he becomes aware of transience and loss. He wonders if his practice as a land artist will help him and others to learn lessons about how to process these moments and ideas.
His work
Check - Falling Royd, Hebden Bridge, Calderdale.
Various Twigs & Sycamore Flower Stalks.
Created 30th-31st May 2024.
Winston has combined the fine green flower stems within a circular twig design to make something that reminded him of tartan or at least a checker pattern. It's the result of several wonderful hours spent experimenting in the company of jays and woodpeckers feeding their young and drumming on a nearby tree. "That woodland was a beautifully noisy place to work".
Sacrament - Studio Piece.
Rosedale Abbey Honesty Seed Pods.
Created November 2022.
We love these delicate shapes. Winston informs us that they are round seed pods from the honesty plant (Lunaria annua) whose Latin name comes from the moon. Its common name (the honesty plant) comes from the way it 'honestly' displays its seeds (the black spots in the image), within these transparent, circular envelopes.
Leaving The North Yorkshire Moors, Winston stopped his van and gathered these from the roadside and there they stayed for a few weeks. Whilst researching traditional quilting patterns Winston came across a design called 'Cathedral Windows' made from overlapping circles, inspired by stained glass windows. A trend that became popular in North America during the 1930's.
"The finished piece was mounted on tracing paper and backlit by the sun. Depending on the light the seed pods sometimes looked golden on a sunny day or silver through to gunmetal grey in the evenings".
Arches - Edgar Wood Church, Middleton, Manchester.
Laurel & Paving.
Created 23rd February 2024.
This piece was a commission for the Edgar Wood Society with Creative Health and Well Being Ltd. Working at the striking Long Street Methodists Church in Middleton, Manchester, a building designed by the architect Edgar Wood. Winston's first glimpse of the church was from a back street behind the building where, "I was immediately taken with the clear glass windows and their sandstone Art Nouveau botanical tracery".
This reminded him of the repeated shape of a simple leaf which he alternately inverted to echo another of Wood’s themes of contrasting dark and light bands of chevrons. Whilst wind and rain were light on the day the leaves trembled and quivered throughout, and the design became disrupted within minutes of it being resolved.
Hover – Woodland, Mytholmroyd, Calderdale.
Whitebeam Leaves & Dry Himalayan Balsam Stalks.
Created 19th February 2025.
Of all Winston's designs, this one is the one that gets the most suggestions for becoming a fabric design. Made on the last day of a long cold snap in Calderdale this winter, "I tried to realise this two layer design over three hours or so with increasingly numb and wet fingers".
I was hoping that the contrast between the shadows of the darker rotting whitebeam leaves with their subtle grey and purple shades would create an optical illusion, and make the lighter honeycomb layer of Himalayan balsam stalks look like they were floating or hovering a little above the ground.
This was a painstaking installation, trying to get the tiny sticks to stay still in difficult conditions. It's a testament to Winston that no guides or rulers were used to make the design.
Bloodlines - Christ Church, Lothersdale, North Yorkshire.
Himalayan Balsam Stems on Gravestone.
Created 19th September 2024.
"My goal as an artist is to create art that makes people look at the world in a different way.” - Autumn De Forest.
Winston has been working with Lothersdale Primary School for a couple of years exploring the themes of identity and place using art and writing. Bloodlines was made in the local churchyard, Winston was attempting to make connections with past generations and the local heritage. The piece was made, with respect on the grave of Maria & Edmund Tempest as a kind of memorium or blessing.
It was difficult to achieve the degree of accuracy Winston had in mind, as he was hampered by the encroaching sunlight and a variable breeze which disturbed his shape making. But we think you'll agree, this is a stunning piece.
All of the materials were carefully cleared away and taken home by Winston to avoid spreading this invasive species.
Tessellate - Hebden Bridge, Calderdale.
Flowering Red Current leaves & Scaffolding Plank.
Created 20th August 2024.
After the August heatwave, the flowering content of Winston's canal side garden (Ribes sanguineum) was looking singed and dead. "As he I cut it back, he noticed that some of its round leaves had curled from all sides making them almost square!", But there was more to this than first caught Winston's eye, the leaves were all different sizes and presented in a range of wonderful pastel shades. Without thinking too much, he arranged these into a square trying not to leave any gaps.
Avenues – Rochdale Canal, Mytholmroyd, Calderdale.
Willow Twigs & Hawthorn Berries.
Created 29th August 2022.
Winston's inspiration is often drawn from paintings by other artists, usually the influence is subtle. However with this piece he became fascinated with the work of Piet Mondrian - learning how his style evolved from objective, figurative representations through to pure abstraction. Mondrian's final painting, Broadway Boogie Woogie, was inspired by Jazz and the busy streets of New York, which in turn inspired this piece where Mondrian's streets have become willow cuttings and his car tail lights, hawthorn berries. This piece was made beside lock 7 on the Rochdale Canal, just ten minutes from Winston's home.
Domino - Lyne Sands, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.
Stone, Beach Bricks & Pebbles.
Created 20th August 2024.
Newbiggin-by-the-sea has some of Winston's favourite beaches, places that feel 'made' for him to make art with. There is a rich mixture of interesting stones, shells and industrial archaeology to be found and that inspired Winston.
After an hour or two of failed experiments Winston found this huge altar like stone and started putting 'sea bricks' on top of it. The colours and shapes remind Winston of Klimt's paintings.
Summary
We love Winston's work and hope that you enjoy it as much as we do. Could you see something like this on a shirt? We think it would look amazing, and of course we're biased, but what do you think?