Beth Hughes

Sunflower Vase

The aim of this creation was to make an everyday object larger than life, using mainly materials washed up on local beaches.
I make and sell jewelry, pots, vases, sculptures using mainly driftwood and recycled fabrics, plaster and cement - and also make wax resist wall hangings using recycled materials -so this for me was a departure into a bigger statement!
Driftwood is the seas own recycling project - she takes a branch (that has already had a useful life) and wears and shapes and bleaches it into a beautiful new form. Fabric washed up on the beach is worn and torn and weathered and when 'frozen' in cement it shows it's organic and textured form.
Sunflower vase was inspired by these materials and by the symbolism associated with the sunflower. It is used as a symbol of hope and conservation (both of which we need in abundance to save our environment) - and its radiant face mimics and looks towards the sun - our great provider of energy. In today's society we have largely lost that ancient connection to the sun that every culture through time has found sacred.
Finally, cut flowers in a vase are beautiful but if they have traveled many miles and are wrapped in plastic, at huge cost to the environment, perhaps we need to rethink our gift!

Beth Hughes
3 Hermitage Road, Dartmouth, TQ6 9TD
beth.hughes@talktalk.net