Blog
Back to a Land
Opening tomorrow at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park – 7th March, 2015 – is an exhibition called Back to a Land – this is work by Henry Moore with a focus on showing his drawings, prints and sculpture which were inspired by his love of landscape and the rocks and earth that make it. His […]
Little Owl Sculpture
This is the first time I’ve carved Ancaster Weatherbed stone. This piece was so beautifully flecked grey and brown that I thought it perfect to suggest the feather colouring of a Little Owl. I’ve worked Ancaster limestone before, but that was the stone the quarry describes as Hard White. Within the beds (the layers […]
Sculpture – shaping stone
Pushing into the material. Imagining the line.
The Year in Books – March 2015
I’ve gone and got really organised for my The Year in Books, and made some bookmarks. Just simple ones that were easy to do – I printed some sketches I made of my geese onto thick card and then cut to shape. I think the tassels make them look rather smart – these were made by winding […]
Golden things
Precious golden things. Today my favourite things are golden – the bright gold spring sun on my yellow daffodils, making colours to match my ammonite fossil and the stone I’m carving. Rich, deep natural earth colours – umber, ochre, and sienna pigments – valued warm golden shades. Satisfying, quenching.
Have we angered Sylph
Or was it Zeus, god of storms, thundering through the night on his chariot drawn by the four horse-shaped winds. Something disturbed the elements, the agitation kept me awake for hours. Perhaps it was needed – this morning is clean and calm and gentle. The windless warm sun makes it difficult to remember the ferocious power nature roared […]
Rabbit
This is the result of my chipping – a Rabbit sculpture carved in Portugese Rose marble. Last year when I was collecting from one of the nests my geese were laying in, there was a little rabbit sitting right in the middle among the eggs, all cosy. I was able to get very close and […]
Possibly a perfect match ….
According to Chinese astrology, each year – starting from the Chinese New Year, is associated with an animal sign, occurring in a twelve year cycle. 2015 is the year of the Goat. I love the idea that you’re an animal sign – it makes sense to me. I rather like the sound of being […]
Smoke Signals
It is a familiar sight at this time of year, billowing smoke on the horizon. I remember as a child playing camp and sending smoke signals back to the house with and old blanket waved over a makeshift wood fire. I hoped the smoke would be seen from far away, and my magic messages understood […]
The Goose that laid
My geese have begun laying – in fact this is my very first goose egg of 2015. I knew laying would start quite soon, as my girls went quiet and slow, giving much attention to their underparts and being rather secretive. In my little ‘Guide to Keeping Geese’ it says that geese traditionally start laying […]