Jenny Graham ‘Four Star’
Hillside Cottage
Burrowbridge
Bridgwater
TA7 0RB
(01823) 698 526
jenny@landimage.freeserve.co.uk
jennygraham.co.uk

Jenny Graham is a painter, photographer and printmaker who lives in Burrowbridge on the Somerset Levels. In 2001 she was given some funding by Sedgemoor District Council and LAMP (the Levels and Moors Partnership) to photograph rural independent garages in the Sedgemoor area and produce a series of postcards and posters. The subsequent collection of digital photographs – Sedgemoor Services – was exhibited at the Greinton Service Station Café.

"Somerset’s independent garages and service stations are rapidly closing down – phased out of the market by multi-nationals and supermarket service stations.  Many of the current owners represent the last generation to run the business.  Yet these businesses not only provide service and petrol for private cars, they also repair farm machinery and often double as general stores. This supports the regional economy and provides meeting and information points for the community." Jenny Graham.

Jenny Graham’s original proposal for “Four Star” was a development out of that work that would:

• Give the artist a chance to further explore the possibilities of digital media
• Record and interpret the rural automotive industry all over Somerset
• Develop an exhibition of the work in 2003
• Produce a catalogue/book featuring photographs and text about the project.

The project that was eventually developed with support from LAMP with Sedgemoor District Council replaced the development of a book with the production of a series of banners and car stickers that would be used in a more obviously promotional capacity to raise awareness of the project among new audiences. Debenham’s in Taunton agreed to print the banners.  

Ralph Hoyte joined the project half way through in order to bring a written context to the project that would compliment and enhance Jenny’s visual pieces.  He had two meetings with Jenny to discuss ideas and visited 6 garages for familiarisation purposes and to ‘collect’ ideas, words and images.  He particularly liked the mechanics’ blue overalls and the naked lady calendars, although his main inspiration came from Jenny who provided him with images she was
working on.

Ralph’s contribution to the project was to create
pieces of work for 6 panels that would be exhibited alongside Jenny’s
work.  The same pieces were reproduced on banners for display in
garages and at the Brewhouse in September 2003.  Ralph also came up
with the words and phrases that were made into car stickers. 

"His textual response added a wealth of layers to my visual one and his quirky way of looking at the world and the people who live in it enlivened my passion for a different sort of ‘colour’.  It also
convinced me that collaborating with a writer is an avenue of practice that I want to explore again as soon as possible." Jenny Graham.

This project was successful because it was driven forward by the professionalism and commitment of the artist involved and greatly helped by the amount of preparation she had done for “Four Star” through the "Sedgemoor Services" project. 

The short term outcomes of this project were:

• A set of 40 new digital photographs that document garages in Somerset.
• A series of related poems and text.
• A successful collaboration between 2 artists who work in different media
• The development of the work and practice of both those artists
• The consolidation of the relationships with LAMP.  It is not common for LAMP to put funding into projects of this nature and suggests the high regard felt by LAMP for Jenny Graham.
• The consolidation of the relationship with Debenhams. Debenhams had been partners for SAW2002 and their support of this project represents a continuation of that relationship.
• The establishment of a new partnership with the Haynes Motor Museum
• The creation of new relationships with garage owners in Somerset and
  through them, the establishment of new links in communities all over
  Somerset.
• An exhibition of photographs and poems at the Haynes Museum and at the Brewhouse.
• The production of 6 promotional banners and 400 car stickers

The longer term outcomes include:

• The production of a DVD about the project by Somerset Film and Video in Bridgwater.  This has been shown at the Engine Room and at Brewhouse seminar and will be of great long-term educational value.
• The expansion of the project to include a social history context. Somerset Rural Life Museum have agreed to hold a collection of the photographs and during 2004 helped Jenny record interviews with garage owners in order to compliment the photographs with an archive on tape. This will be funded by LAMP.
• Future collaborations between artists
  working in different media resulting in 'WORKING THE LAND' with Pauline
  Rook. A year long visual exploration of West Country farming.

four star - man in door

four star - ava skips

'working the land' project

in the black mountains - oil on canvas