Sculpture
Plume
I’ve been working on a series of maquettes for a piece called Plume – this is one of them carved in Portland Limestone. I become rather fond of these models, they are a collection of open, honest, sometimes unresolved, sometimes unfinished, experimental trial runs. They teach me a lot about what needs further work, […]
Twosome
A sculpture of two birds carved in Tadcaster Limestone – I love the spotting of colour in the tails of each bird, and it also appears lightly on their heads too. Such delicate mottling, which I think lends Twosome a gentle grace. I’ve sanded the birds smooth to give a fine finish. This pair […]
Tall-tailed Bird
Here is my sculpture Tall-tailed Bird, carved in Cornish Soapstone – the one I was sanding the other day. The sculpture is now finished and polished ready for my exhibition at the weekend. Art& York exhibition – Friday 27, Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 October, 2017 – I’m on Stand No. 83. Look forward […]
In the Workshop – sanding my heart out
There are no shortcuts with sanding – it just has to be done if I want a flawlessly smooth surface. This bird sculpture will be polished, so if I’m not thorough I’ll be found out. As I work through the grades of abrasive I’m feeling the finish as much as seeing it, finger tips […]
On seeing your sculpture of an otter
A wonderful thing happened to me the other day. Some days are like that, out-of-the-blue loveliness which brings smiles and big happiness. It is otter related. A lady, Isobel Thrilling, sent me a poem she had written in response to seeing my Otter sculpture – I asked her if I could share it, as […]
Two Birds sculpture
I’ve been working on the two birds sculpture Side by Side, finishing off their heads and smoothing their roundy bodies, so they’re ‘birthed’ proper now.
Side by Side
The stages of carving a sculpture are always good to record – I rather like looking back at progress and seeing just how far I’ve come – something to show for my aching hands! This is a sculpture of two birds together. Initially I thought they might be a pair, each an individual carving, […]
Direct Carving in Stone
Direct carving, carving direct – ever since I picked up my first hammer and chisel I’ve been working stone in this way. I didn’t know it had a name, or that at one time it was considered revolutionary. I just took for granted it was the way sculpture came into being and was how […]
Bird with a long tail
A little while ago I showed you progress of Long-tailed bird on my workbench being carved – the finished sculpture sits next to me now looking out of the window at a rather blustery day. I’ve just been updating my website to include Long Tailed Bird, so you can see the final piece and […]
Hand Carved Lettering v machined
Usually it is the mass produced, machine method and tooling that seeks to emulate the skill, beauty and craftsmanship of hand carved lettering in stone. Many methods are used, sandblasting, routing, and robots with special diamond tips rotating at super-fast speeds, but I’m not sure they quite replace me and my chisel just yet, […]