Blog
RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2019
In previous years I’ve sketched the birds I’ve seen during the Big Garden Birdwatch survey. This time I thought I’d try and model them in clay instead, sculpt them directly during the hour watch. It is a wonderful challenge, requiring me to work very quickly, where normally I would be slow and meticulous to […]
Turtle Dove Conservation – Exhibition
Last year I went to a talk about the Turtle Dove Project in North Yorkshire and was really inspired by the work that was being done. At the time I really wanted to do something to help too, and began to make my surrounds a little more Turtle Dove friendly. I have wondered if […]
Symbolic Stone
There are as many reasons for buying art, collecting objects or commissioning sculpture as there are people who do it. Sometimes someone falls in love with a sculpture because it evokes a memory, other times because the shape, texture, or colour are irresistible. On occasion it is hard to put into words why a […]
An exhibition for bird lovers
In the workshop I’m busily making new work for my first exhibition of 2019 at the Craft Centre and Design Gallery in Leeds – the show is called Tweet – aptly, as all the pieces on display are works inspired by the beauty of birds. The line-up includes a range of disciplines – […]
Breaking stone – in a good way!
Mostly when I go to the quarry for a block of stone, there isn’t a piece just the size I’m looking for. This means either I compromise and make smaller than originally intended, or I get a larger block and trim off when I get back to the workshop. My aim is usually to […]
The Nuthatch – a very endearing bird
Last year was a bit of a Nuthatch year for me. During the Big Garden Birdwatch at the beginning of 2017, it was the Nuthatch I sketched. Little did I know then that the pair at the feeders were to nest in my old Sycamore tree, and raise young, that year and last year […]
Happy 2019
H a p p y N e w Y e a r
New Year’s Eve celebrations
My geese join me in a little New Year’s Eve celebration at my workshop as the light fades on 2018. I’m tidying and putting things in order in readiness for a new year beginning. We sat until it was quite dark, remembering, reflecting, rejoicing and looking forward to bringing dreams and plans and sculpture […]
Feature in the Yorkshire Post Magazine
Chris Bond, Editor of the Yorkshire Post Magazine and photographer Gary Longbottom spent an afternoon here at my workshop exploring, chatting and taking images for a little feature they were proposing about me and my sculpture. Today it was published in the weekend Magazine – what a lovely way to round off my busy […]
On Christmas Day in the morning
Its not a conventional white Christmas, no snow, but it is misty white, a blanket of thick fog, soft white, cloudy white. I’ve lit candles, carols play, mince pies are ready and there’s a gentle resinous smell of pine needles. My very best wishes to you for a Merry Christmas […]