This morning the sun was shining and the skies were blue in Sandown Bay. It was the official unveiling for the Island’s newest public artwork, U R Here, designed and created by Ventnor artist Nathan Holt.

Produced in association with Island 2000 and AJ Wells, this new enamel artwork, situated in the Eastern Gardens on Sandown Esplanade looks magnificent.

It is the fruition of at least six months of work, from the initial fundraising (Art Plus Award Scheme for Art in Public Places), through to the design and creation of the work.

We caught up with Hannah George from Island 2000 (podcast to come later) and the artist, Nathan Holt, after the unveiling (podcast below).

Nathan Holt
Nathan, whose work has become more prevalent across the Island over the past couple of years, told us that working with enamel meant a big learning curve for him, but that it was a privilege to be involved with the project.

His usual style of fast drawing and capturing the moment was used for the design of the work, but the application of the design onto steel boards required a great deal of patience.

Process
Working with enamel was a new challenge for Nathan, who is more used to handling spray cans and acrylics.

AJ Wells once again (remember Mike Forrest’s The Catch?) provided the facilities for the artwork to be produced, which Nathan told us were second to none.

The process for creating the enameled steel artwork required two layers of paint applied by a combination of hand painting, screen printing, spraying and sponging. Each panel (there are five in total) were fired at 800 degrees Celsius, between layers and the gold paint (which you’ll see as a fossil in the cliffs) was added before a final firing.

Nathan told us that getting the right consistency for the softly textured, but paste-like, paint was an art in itself.

What the future holds
Further collaboration with A J Wells is on the cards, as Nathan has been commissioned to produce artwork for their 2009 calender and he confirmed that he will be involved with more work on the Ventnor Skate Park.

Coaster Competition
AJ Wells produced 200 enameled coasters with a crop section of the work for the occasion and have very kindly donated eight to VentnorBlog for a reader competition.

We’ll be bringing this to you later in the week, so make sure you keep your eyes peeled if you want a piece of Nathan Holt artwork to rest your cuppa on.

Listen to the interview by clicking on the play button below.

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More of Nathan’s work can be viewed at his MySpace

AJ Wells
Island 2000

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