Balloon artwork to take to the skies above London's Thamesmead

A 5m scale prototype was created as a test flight of the Fields of EveryWhen balloon

A "floating gallery" is to take to the sky over south-east London this month.

A hot air balloon with embroidered panels was created by students of the Royal School of Needlework, in collaboration with international artists Neil Musson and Jono Retallick.

People who live in the Thamesmead area provided personal stories, which were turned into 200 designs.

The result, a depiction of the life and times of a local community, is called Fields Of EveryWhen.

The 5m prototype is a hint of how the actual 25m artwork will look

A balloon was chosen as the vessel for the artwork because of its existing associations with the area. In the late 1800s, a hot air balloon was the first method used to look down at, and photograph, the local landscape.

Thamesmead, due to its proximity to the Royal Arsenal, was also heavily protected by barrage balloons during the war.

The artwork was created by digitally enlarging the embroidered designs onto fabric gores - the leaf-shaped panels that are joined together to make up a balloon.

The gores of the balloon using artwork from two of the students

Student Rosie Sykes created this embroidered dragon design in response to a Thamesmead life story

According to the artists, each piece tells a story and "represents a field in the landscape of Thamesmead as it first appeared when the land was drained and cultivated by the monks of Lesnes Abbey".

"This is an overlaying of modern stories and memories onto the ancient landscape; a new map depicting the community," they said.

"It floats above, and mirrors, the social landscape and acknowledges the global roots of the people of Thamesmead."

Fleur Webb was the student behind this fairy-like design

Amy Turner's design shows a host of people surrounded by anthurium plants

Musson said: "We have been really impressed by the way in which the students have interpreted personal stories as embroideries, especially given the sensitive nature of some of the content.

"The wide variety of approaches and creative styles will really enhance the sculptural hot air balloon which will fly the stories of Thamesmead this summer."

The final piece will have taken two years to create

Alivia Lloyd used an applique technique for her design

The work "is a statement about this unique place and a time capsule of cultural life in Thamesmead for future generations", the project organisers said, comparing it to the Bayeux Tapestry.

In addition to flying the balloon, the group intend to inflate it on the ground on its side so that people can walk into it and see the design from the inside.

The balloon will also be inflated on the ground so people can see the designs from both sides

Some of the students whose designs have been incorporated in Fields of EveryWhen

Fields of EveryWhen, which took two years to complete, will fly five times in Thamesmead this summer, with its final flight at the end of September.

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