A NEW exhibition created by art students at Winsford’s college campus will open at Lion Salt Works this week.

Seven HND Fine and Applied Arts students from Warrington and Vale Royal College will see their work on display at the Marston museum from December 2 until January 11, 2021.

The students have explored the theme of salt, taking inspiration from how its legacy on the people, industry and landscape of mid Cheshire.

This imaginative exhibition is the culmination of months of extensive research and design – using different artistic processes including ceramics, glass, mixed media works and paintings.

Chris Malins, ceramics and glass lecturer at the college, said: “The students have taken inspiration for this exhibition from a variety of sources, including landscape, the daily lives of salt-workers, geology and the industrial buildings at the Lion Salt Works Museum.

“Our students have worked hard on their designs, which has involved them mastering different techniques, including mould-making, hand-building, firing, glazing and fusing glass.

“They have really embraced the topic and their work gives new insights about salt in an imaginative and professional interpretation.”

The students whose work features at the exhibition are Sam Dawkins, Angel Smith and Robyn Bailey from Northwich, Ariane Baguley from Moulton, Gary Wood from Nantwich, Eileen Bass from Grappenhall and Ceri Porter-Jones from Wettenhall.

Northwich Guardian:

Ceri produced a striking set of bowls by using detailed application of oxides and stains to represent the geology below the Cheshire Plain.

She said: “Cheshire is one of the few places in the country with deep layers of salt and it is amazing to think that for centuries this resource has been so key to the area.

“Geology is the starting point for all of this and it inspired me to base my work on it.”

Most of the students are in the first year of their college course.