SUSANNA CANDLIN – Artist

There was a children’s art workshop going on this morning, so I had a lot of young visitors curious to know what I was doing. Many of them wanted to help, so I got them covering balloons with cardboard-mâché; they did a fantastic job and many will come back and see their work incorporated into the installation. The smaller children were keener on the actual balloons than covering them, and a bit of balloon-modelling went on, which was a whole lot more interesting than cardboard-mâché.

I had a surprise visitor at 2 o’clock: Ben rode up on his bike, having covered most of the 22 miles between here and home on disused railway lines. I was able to introduce him to some of my new acquaintances and show him first hand why I was having such a great time. After replacing his calories with a bag of chips from around the corner and a coconut and lime cake from the Courtyard Arts café, he got stuck into helping, and then introducing other children into mâché techniques (it’s like a domino effect).

As for me, I continued lengthening my bunch of rooty cables but stayed inside this time (with the doors open) so that nothing blew away or burst this time (well, fewer balloons burst). It will take 4 days to make one whole taproot, so I’m now thinking that I might only be able to make three or four (unless I get quicker, which usually happens – I’m always fascinated by how humans find resourceful ways to simplify and facilitate their systems).

The day ended with a meeting in Cafe Nero with my lovely art-degree friends Mel and Liv; we were discussing the new collective which we’re going to launch in the next few weeks. Watch this space…

Well done kids! You were brilliant! Come back and see the installation grow! 

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