Artists often see the world differently. DAVID WHETSTONE talks to one for whom this must definitely be true

LYNNE Thompson-Campbell’s extraordinary sculpture on show at South Tyneside College will either render you speechless or give rise to a flood of questions.

Suspended from the ceiling and gently rotating, The Washing Machine of Nonsense is a feat of engineering featuring pheasants’ feet.

It also incorporates a mannequin hung upside down, a balloon structure made of ties and umpteen melon seeds.

Lynne found it hard to describe on the phone. “It would be better if you could some and see it,” she said. So here I am.

Lynne is one of the students nearing the end of the college’s two-year foundation degree course in applied art which is run in association with Sunderland University.

Afterwards, students can opt to do a third year and attain a BA honours degree, which Lynne hopes to do at Sunderland.

South Tyneside course leader Doug Veitch says the foundation degree prepares students not just to produce art but to make a living out of it.

This year they were set the task of preparing a piece of art for the Customs House, just as if they were out to win and execute a commission.

The Washing Machine of Nonsense, if hung permanently at the arts centre, would certainly not blend into the background.

But Lynne had her own reasons for creating the work and they make for a fascinating tale. Well, several.

Lynne has been through a hell of a time, a traumatic divorce and a custody battle which she lost, meaning she drives to London regularly to see her nine-year-old son, Spencer.

She admits to having made a false start years ago, when she enrolled on a college art course but found it didn’t meet her needs at the time.

“For some reason I did fashion and I was quite successful for 10 years. It got me into interior design which brought a bit of money, but I wasn’t happy.