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Cambridge: the making of a Tower
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The Tower of Cambridge is now well underway. Cambridge will be comprised of the university's colleges only (oh and one church, but there are no pubs in this Tower…we know, it surprised us too!).
People always ask Matt how he starts a new Tower, so we thought we’d use The Tower of Cambridge to explain the creative process.
Matt spends a huge amount of time researching the location, sometimes using books, more often than not, the internet. For weeks he can be found floating around on Google Earth, haunting a place’s streets, rotating buildings (as you do) in order to get a feel for a place. This phase is really important as it is at this point that Matt decides which buildings to include, from which angle and perspective, and where they may sit when construction begins.
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Then it’s onto paper and pencil. Each Tower starts with a base, something upon which the Tower will be built. In Cambridge’s case, it’s the River Cam. The river grounds and frames the Tower, and incorporates features that distinguish it from other rivers; for Cambridge it is the many bridges, the punts and the cyclists riding along The Backs.
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Then it’s the turn of the buildings. Now this differs for every Tower. Matt’s aim is not to disappoint; places are very significant to people, holding meaning, memories and often sentimental value. Particularly a university city such as Cambridge. There are difficult decisions to make: so much iconic architecture, so many important locations, so little space on the page!
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As we’ve already said, The Tower of Cambridge will be built entirely of the university’s colleges, but how does Matt select the order and position of the buildings? Again, this differs for each Tower, but for Cambridge Matt has chosen a broadly chronological approach: the older colleges taking prominence towards the top, the newer colleges towards the bottom. And, if you can believe it, Matt’s even tried to order the buildings as to when they were individually built…no mean feat for an architectural range from 1284 to 1977! And give or take a little aesthetic massaging and artistic licence, it’s working…so far!
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And after that? Well, then it’s the turn of pen and ink, painstakingly going over every single pencil line he has drawn. Many whiskies later and the picture will be finished with a wash to give it the tone and blending, depth and shadows.
And there you have it! Simple, really! If Matt were finishing Cambridge in colour, we’d be waving goodbye to him and seeing him in a few months’ time, but as this is another black and white painting, it will be finished much sooner. So, Cambridge fans, keep your eyes peeled for further updates!
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We’re busy planning 2022 at the moment, deciding which shows we will be attending. When we have finalised the list, we will update the website and our social media pages.
The gallery is currently open on Mondays and Thursdays, when Matt himself will be in residence. If you’re planning a visit please call ahead and let us know you’re coming. Our contact details can be found here.
Or alternatively, visit us digitally by checking out Matt's online store – images and details of all of Matt’s Towers and further collections can be found by clicking the big teal button below!
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What do artists do all day?
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#2: they build a shepherd’s hut
Of course they do, it’s the logical way to spend the day, isn’t it?
Not content with finishing The Swinging Cat, Matt has now decided that it needs an accommodation ‘wing’. The obvious solution was always going to be to build it himself, so hopefully by Summer 2022, friends will have somewhere to stay when they pop over for a night down the Cat.
We’ll keep you posted as to the progress of what has been affectionately dubbed The Dog House!
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That’s it for another month! We've got lots of exciting things planned for 2022 and look forward to sharing them with you as the year unfolds.
All the best from the team at Matthew Ellwood Art.
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