Friday 26 August 2016

Plum Lines Commission - Commemorating the Women of WW1

I've recently been commissioned by the National Trust to commemorate the work of women in World War 1.
: Jam-making
: Pershore Plums
My brief is to create an art installation at a National Trust property in the West Midlands, based on the poems of local people, which reflect upon the roles of female relatives during WW1. 
My research took me to Pershore in Worcestershire, in search of its famous Pershore Plums.
I timed my visit perfectly (by chance), as now is the time when the Pershore Plums are ripe on the tree. If I had left it a day or two longer, the fruit would have expired.  
My journey to Worcester took me to Clive's Fruit Farm, to pick the purple Pershore variety, and to Worcester Country Park to pick yellow variety of Pershore plums from a wild orchard. 


Plum Orchards in Worcestershire


 Purple Pershore Plum


Yellow Pershore Plum
 The recipe
An old Kilner Jar from early 1900's 
Perhsore Plum Jam
Drying out the stones 
I'm collecting all of the stones from the plums for my installation. With the fruit, I made plum jam.
I've never made jam before, but I followed the simple recipe (above), similarly to how women would have made jam at the start of the 20th Century. 

24 hrs later, the jam has set
(Chief Taster) Miki has given the jam the thumbs up!

The exhibition will open 19th November at Croome Court in Worcestershire.
For more details, visit https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/events/f170668f-2884-43df-a3ab-37790cf87999/pages/details

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