Blog
Cornerstone and Conservation
Not surprisingly, I very much like the Cornerstone garden at RHS Malvern Spring Festival – the delicate alpine planting in the stone troughs, and the clever stone walled seating area with a stone table. The balance, planting and sculpted panel in Constraining Nature designed by Kate Durr Garden Design is both exuberant and elegant. […]
Stone Carving Course
It is a lovely time, when I’ve set up all the work benches (a sculptors work bench is called a ‘banker’), and put out all the tools ready for my group of stone carvers to arrive. I’m excited to know what everyone will carve, what ideas they have and I love to hear them […]
Talk, Demonstration and ‘Have a Go’
After my day of brush and bonfire I joined the Appleton-le-Moor WI, who had invited me to give a talk at their monthly meeting. I prepared slides for a little presentation, followed by a stone carving demonstration with the idea that members could have a go. A very enthusiastic group took up mallets and chisels, and carvings […]
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust at Appleton Mill
This is the sight that met us when we arrived at Appleton Mill Farm – a felled Ash tree. It had been taken down as it was old, in places rotten, leaning into the road and in danger of falling. I had seen earlier in the month that the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust volunteer group were meeting […]
The Year in Books – May 2015
What a wonderful reading month I’ve had. Badgerlands by Patrick Barkham. This is a stunning book, difficult to put down and I didn’t want it to end – so immediately started reading again. It is full of vividly told experiences of, and encounters with Badgers or Badger related matters and has such a sensitive, balanced tone when […]
Displaying sculpture
The difference between good and bad display of a work of art may be only a matter of a few inches in the height of the plinth or the positioning of the lights, but it will be crucial to our appreciation of the object in question. This is taken from an article by James […]
A dash of colour
They say that animals don’t see in colour, but I do wonder. I’ve been told that dogs see in a sort of sepia way, and am learning that birds see colours we don’t, and also ultraviolet light. I tend to see in stone colours – or at least refer to stone to describe […]
Hot off the press
Just the other day I collected my posters and brochures for North Yorkshire Open Studios 2015. This year it is designed with fresh spring colours and just perfect for this time of year. I’ve got posters to put up, signs to fix and brochures to send – I’m number 92 in the Moors and […]
Nature shapes
Nature shaping, designing subtle, organic patterns – someone told me once that stone only ever wants to get back to the sand, sediment and silt from which it was formed.
What inspires your sculpture?
This is a question I’m asked quite a lot. Most obviously it is from my interest and love of wildlife – sometimes it is just an expression of how I see the world. I do like to know my subject and invariably in researching it, I’m diverted to look up things I didn’t understand, which lead […]