Blog
A bit Eastery
My Easter bird – Stone Curlew with eggs. I find these birds really striking, almost primitive looking, with those piercing large eyes and large head. They are called stone curlews because they are found and nest in stony habitats and resemble curlews. They’re also called thick-knee. Those big, round, yellow eyes help the bird in its crepuscular or nocturnal […]
The Year in Books – April 2015
The monthly account of the wildlife, farming and nature described in Meadowland, was my enjoyable March read. At times the beautifully vivid and intense writing that created my understanding of the Meadows was interrupted by analogies that broke the spell, and rudely awakened me from my immersion and delight in the book. Wrens as […]
Hedgeside
My hedgerow is just beginning to come to life with little buds and fresh green shoots starting to show. I call it my hedge as it is the hedge which holds the gap where my gate hangs, marking the entrance to my workshop. Those who have been to my Open Studio will recognise it, but […]
Losing sense of time
The feeling of time is a very subjective thing – time of course is a construction and it seems natural that we would all perceive it differently. At times even not to be aware of it. It happens regularly to me, in fact possibly every time I come into the workshop – I […]
Sizing up stone
I love visiting the quarry and hunting round for blocks of stone which are suitable for my sculpture. The stone block has to be the right quality, and have the right appeal, but also be the right size of course – well, roughly the right size. It is very rare that a block of raw […]
A moorland sort of bird
To be more precise, a Partridge. I’ve agonised rather about actually giving this sculpture, carved in Yorkstone, the name Partridge – because it didn’t quite develop a partridgy enough look. Other birds kept creeping in during the carving, which I seemed unable to chase away. Sometimes carvings don’t always go as planned, sometimes the stone has a […]
Handling with care
Blocks of stone for sculpture are moved and handled with care.
The Eclipse excited some
The light was extraordinary, casting long shadows and strange hues. I’ve never seen an eclipse before. There were sort of rainbows in the clouds too – at least through the camera! I was trying to capture it all, which was made very difficult by certain people who got all excited, gathering round my feet […]
Potted Cowslip
The hedgerow here is greening, and cowslips push their clusters of curled lush leaves upward in vibrant wrinkly fronds. They’re promising slender delicate stems abundant with pale yellow flowers. Since early times cowslip has been cultivated in the British Isles and was popular in medieval herb gardens – having magical and medicinal properties. Farmers […]
Mottled Green Diver
Divers are a small family of large water birds with three species regularly seen in the UK – Black Throated, Red Throated and Great Northern Diver. The Mottled Green is rarer! All have long, slender bodies, moderately long necks and dagger-shaped bills, narrow wings and small legs (with long, lobed toes) set far back on […]