Red Carpet alias Welcome Carpet

(Yes, during the process of the installation, the colour became a topic of conversation and the client re-baptised it Welcome Carpet instead of Red Carpet. )

Back to end of 2009. Once the winners of the Art Journey were announced, the real work started. As a glass artist in the very early stages of an artist career and a total novice with regards to public art, it was a saving grace to be introduced to Stephen and Marcus of the Trinity Session in Jo'burg, who would be the project managers from the artists point of view.

With a wealth of experience with public art commissions in Jo'burg, I (and the other artists of this first phase : Anthony Harris (Voting Line), Duncan Stewart (River Memory), Mxolisi Sapete (Sit, Talk Trade: Fishbird), Anthony Coke (Sit, Talk Trade) and Anton Momberg (Conversation Piece)) was in good hands and looked forward to a quick, interesting and fascinating learning curve.

What I did learn in the period between commencement and finish of the project was that, working with a whole team in discussion and implementation stages, one has to make compromises to fit the public art sphere. It's quite different from creating in an environment of a private studio.

But I grew up fast (art wise) and besides having my creation visible in a public domain, I take with me an encyclopaedia of new experiences whereof some were good and some not so. I've made a big step forward gaining a better understanding of the art world and the interaction between artist and the public domain .