Blog
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 […]
Calls of “pee-wit”
Its busy in the fields above my workshop – the noisy carrying-on makes me down-tools and take a few minutes to enjoy the sight and sound. Lapwings have returned – they nest in these fields and presumably they’ve come to select and compete for the best sites. Soon there will be courting displays which are wonderful […]
Full of heart
This is a little pot I made specially for Valentine’s Day. It is carved in my favourite sandstone and simply planted with a white hyacinth. On the front I carved out the outline of a heart shape, and then infilled with lead, and tamped it down to give the metalic hammered effect. I’ve wanted […]