Pete Douglas Art and Design

Cast and assembled ceramic. black satin glaze. enamel. lustre.

life size.

platinum lustre, lithograph transfers. underglaze.

A lot of my work involved heads. As a young man i was mesmerised by the well known sculpture of Queen Nefertiti. My first ever sculpture i made when i was about 14, was an absrtract head. made from a breezeblock.

My work way back then seems to have predicted the attachment of humans to technology. The book The Biological timebomb first put forward the notion of Cyborgs. The book, amongst others, was a big influence.

I was always interested in science and media such as radio and TV as major influencers.

My first ever sculpture.

Life size, cast ceramic. Underglaze, enamel print silver lustre.

Damaged in an accident.

Hand built stoneware triple life size. The objects were inspired by the idea of virtual warfare using robots. And what has followed?……..

A a young man i was testing the ground as to what was possible and acceptable as ceramic sculpture. I was at the time, becoming aware of technologies of the future. I made a number of strange objects in this series, some which were to do with cyborg ideas and things like organ transplants which were big news around this time. The first heart transplant had just been successful. i was quite concerned about the potential influence of science and technology on human life.

Cast and assembled ceramics depicting “cyborg atrocities”.

The original “bladerunner” movie depicted not disimilar ideas.

Many sci fi movies in recent times have incorporated similar concepts of part machine part human. But i made these and the other works coming up to 50 years ago!

Hand built and assembled cast forms. I made a series of bizarre objects depicting strange or extreme bionic images.

Cast and assembled ceramic. Gold lustre glaze.

Press moulded and assembled ceramic.

Cast and assembled ceramics. Pewter glaze. This piece was the beginning of a new series of figures and assembled pieces.

Cast and assembled ceramic. Lime glaze.

Cast and assembled ceramic. Lime glaze.

Modelled and cast. porcelain. Dolomite glaze. At various times i would make one off pieces rather than a series within a theme.

Modelled and cast. Pewter glaze.

Modelled and cast. Sprayed onglaze enamel.

Modelled and cast ceramic. Sprayed onglaze enamel.

I spent 18 years as an R.A.F. child. Lightning fighters would fly overhead every night.

At this point my figures began to evolve in a completely new way.

i started to see the figures as architectural.

I started to make a series of new figures. The emphasis became related to architecture. The figures were pierced , cut and assembled in different compositions.

I incorporated pierced figures with fragments of landscapes. These blocks were inspired by a military installation on a beach in Scotland. Huge concrete blocks placed to impede invading war machines.

In 1974-75 i started a whole new series of figures piercing, cutting, slicing and re assembling. This led to a series of more refined images with differing surface finishes.

Cast, pierced and assembled. Lime glaze. This study piece proved to be the starting point for a number of figures in a series over a period of time. Some work was taken into Bronze.

During this period whilst i was refining my mainstream work, i would experiment with “one off “ ideas.

Cast and assembled ceramic. I used to enjoy playing chess hence the black and white “knights”. I collected tin toys and robots. These were inspired by those things. The horse shape was derived from a pre 1920,s wooden toy horse i found in the basement of an old toy shop in Scotland. The toy had been made by a veteran of the 1914-18 world war.

I experimented with making shaped boxes, utilising sculptural ideas.

Cast and collaged ceramic.

Modelled caste and collaged porcelain. The figure is 12 cms long.

I have 2 of these pieces remaining. The rest were sold or given away as presents.

i made a few variations of the figure. i think i could have taken this idea a long way. One of my faults always was that i wanted to work on too may ideas at a given time. So with some ideas they just touch the surface. This site therefore could be viewed as a gallery of some thoughts….or a kind of sketchbook.

Slab built porcelain with cast collaged elements.

The reclining figures were translated into ceramic collages/assemblages/paintings, inspired by some painted screenprints. Something to do with interiors.

White earthenware. Hand built. Underglaze, enamel and lustre. Hand painted.

various dimensions from 15-25 centimetres in height

Hand painted Mural approximately 25x12 feet. I had 2 assisstants.

This mural was commissioned to celebrate the installation of the first Cat Scan machine, which was a very expensive and state of the art piece of equipment. The mural depicts images based on scans of the human body. The mural also included illustrations of the history of x-rays and images based on the science of the scanning device. The Mural was approximately 40 x 10 feetx (2) Both sides of the corridor, leading to the Scanning room. Acrylic. Hand painted.

This was a commission to celebrate the work of the Joseph Rowntree Trust York, and the villagers of New Earswick. Joseph Rowntree was a great chocolate manufacturer and philanthropist.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation does good works. New Earswick is a beautiful village which contains unique architectural housing design, and beautiful gardens, designed for workers and low income families.

Dear reader i recommend you research the work and history of the man himself and the foundation.

This was a most enjoyable experience as i got to know and meet many of the people represented here, all residents, past and present.

On the first panel Joseph Rowntree himself is represented on the left.

The Mural is hand drawn and painted acrylic on MDF about 50x4ft. The different sized panels form a frieze around the dining room of the community hall, a wonderful building which serves the local community.

The buildings depicted are of architectural interest and are drawn from my own and archive photographs. The images of the villagers are digital prints collaged onto the panels. Some i took myself, most were contributed by the residents of the village and their families.

Large scale cartoon figures to decorate York Boys Club. The building served to provide an amenity for local young people and included a basketball court. This was made to liven up an interior space as the building required a total facelift. Approximately 10x20 feet. Acrylic.

This was the first heart painting. What followed was a series of works, which were an exploration of drawing and colour. Some work was made very quickly, playing with pattern, marks and shapes. More refined ideas were made in ceramics and Painted Silkscreen prints, as well as inlaid carvings. I also produced a series of ceramic vessels.

Some of the drawings and paintings have an '“ idea” connected to them.

Some drawings suggested to me the idea of developing the patterns and marks into a large panel of connected squares of sewings, like a quilt. I made some outline designs.

I started to experiment with drawing with a sewing machine. However i did not complete this project.

The first of a series of ink drawings. I just wanted somehow to explore my ability to make marks and work with media.

The idea was to draw everything with a sewing machine (see experiments)

One of a series.

I made a few pieces exploring the idea of the paintings surface having the quality of relief a bit beyond impasto.

I made a number of these. The idea was to connect many squares together to make a large scale piece of work like a quilt.

1974 60x80 cms Graphite

1974, 60X80CMS. Grpahite.

I worked with children and families on this project to enhance a York neighbourhood. Children designed the images. I upscaled their designs and made this mosaic. Its constructed with all kinds of household tiles donated by many local shops and DIY centres. I ran drawing and mosaic workshops, and included parents. You will see that it did become vandalised.

I went to see the mosaic a few weeks later. i actually caught some young vandals trying to smash it with hammers and bricks. but i had used an incredibly powerful resin. I asked them why they were trying to smash something which was designed by their friends. They were stunned. Because they couldnt smash it, it eventually got sprayed, which ofcourse is easy to clean off, as its on ceramic tiles. The vandals i caught were maybe 9 years old.

I was commissioned by the Red Cross Thailand, to produce a series of simple decorative photoworks using flowers and foliage. These were installed to decorate the new Cancer Unit at Queen Sirikit Hospital Bangkok.

These are a few examples.

Some of the images are large scale.

A series of experimental digital photographs.

This is an going project.

I am considering developing these using digital effects so the photograph becomes a painting…..or a drawing……