How we created the Sudbury Hall Grasshopper Trail

Here’s a behind the scenes look into the process behind designing and painting 8 wooden grasshopper sculptures for National Trust property Sudbury Hall.

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Introduction to the Project

Let’s go back to March 2021 where we first made contact with Jodie from Sudbury Hall. Sudbury Hall were having big renovation works done and needed something to spice up the garden space. There was a need for something creative and engaging that wasn’t simply a climbing frame and that’s when we got involved.

The idea for a grasshopper sculpture trail was born and we were to gather ideas from their Children Ambassadors- to collect the content that would inform the designs that would go onto the grasshoppers. Exciting stuff!

The Activity Pack

In order to gain the ideas of the Children Ambassadors, we needed a method to collect ideas. A brainstorming workshop was out of the question (boo Covid) so instead we created a colourful, interactive activity pack for the children to complete during the summer holidays.

View the activity pack below…

Designing

We received the ideas from the Ambassadors and began to design the surfaces of the grasshoppers. We carefully considered colour, making the designs look distinct and what the children wanted to communicate in order to create 8 exciting designs.

Priming and Sanding

With the designs finalised we moved on to prep the grasshoppers themselves. This involved some sandpaper (yuck) and a big tin of primer. The studio saw its fair share of dust but we were determined to get the best finish possible.

Painting

We translated the designs onto the grasshoppers. It was exciting to see the big dollop of colour it added to the studio and it broke up working at the desk all day! We invested in some rather snazzy knee pads and got our hands on our trusty Valspar Paint.

Installation

One chilly day in December (Christmas Jumpers on) we descended on Sudbury Hall, van filled with our grasshopper housemates. Gardener Luke then went about fixing them around the gardens, some even made it up into the trees…