New Workshop

For many years my workshop has been located in the conservatory at the back of my house. It has had the advantages of having great light, a good even temperature as it is north facing and being conveniently near to the kettle.

After many years I decided to have a new workshop and spent a great deal of time selecting a large shed. I wanted to keep the advantages, so large windows were a must for the light, large enough for my workbench, storage and for moving around, plenty of head space and for an airy feeling, good ventilation to help on hot days, insulation to help on cold days and large door for easy access.

I chose a 8ft x 10ft shed with height 7ft from Axis Sheds. It was made over a 6 week period. I asked for an extra window heavy duty frame to allow for insulation, a breathable membrane an an air vent. It was delivered and assembled and I love the quality. It is light and airy and the double doors make access easy. Before moving in I insulated the walls and the ceiling and then cladded the interior with pine cladding and plywood. I have not had electricity installed as I only tend to carved in natural day light and do not use electrical tools often – but we will see!!

I then started to move my bench and tools in.

The space has developed and improved with the addition of another worksurface, more tools and shelving to take plastercine models, books, magazines and yet more tools.

It is now just great for carving in, the light is great and I have not missed electricity as yet this summer. I have created a curtain that can be hung outside the windows from greenhouse shading netting to use on sunny hot days, but have not needed to use it much this summer!! The temperature has been fine, although we still have to see how winter goes. I am thinking about either a solar panel on the roof or an electricity supply to provide the power to run a small unit to take the chill off in winter and keep the damp out if it is necessary.

I store wood and sculptures in the house where temperature and humidity are easier to control.

So happy with my new space.

Experiments in scaling up

As part of my residency at the University of Chester I have been doing a project on scaling my work up. I decided to enlarge reciprocity.

This has involved 3D scanning an existing sculpture and using software to divide the sculpture into slices with pre-set thicknesses that match with the plywood or planks the final sculpture will be made from. Enlarged outlines of each slice can then be transferred onto paper using a CAD machine. These outlines can then be copied onto plywood or planks of wood and cut our using a jigsaw or scroll saw. Each slice needs to be labelled so it can be positioned correctly before sticking and clamping together. This created a rough and unrefined version of the enlarged sculpture which can then be refined using chisels.

I found it was more practical to make the sculpture from vertical slices as there were only about 10 of them and they were easy to fit together. I did try horizontal slices, there were about 50 tiny pieces and it was very hard to identify their correct positions.

My first experiment was a small increase in size from about 30cm heigh to about 45cm high, so a 50% increase in size. for this I hand produced paper templates, drew them onto planks of black walnut and cut them out with a scroll saw. before gluing and clamping the tree pieces together. Once dried I used chisels to refine the shapes and create the inner curves and smoothed the surface. The black walnut took a smooth finish really well and looked great once oiled and waxed.

So next is to use to a CAD machine to increase the scaling and the accuracy…….. more to follow.

Preparing for events in Summer 2024

This Summer I am taking part in Wirral MakeFest on 1st June at the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum and Wirral Open Studio Tour on 8th-9th June from my workshop in Heswall. The exciting news is that I have a new studio arriving this Wednesday and hope to have it set up intime for WOST, so I am really busy with preparations. I would love you to call by and see the studio and new pieces of work. Details of locations can be found in the WOST brochure or online at wirralarts.com and for Make Fest at wirralmakefest.org

I have carved a number of pieces this year including Gaia, a swirling form of interacting shapes creating balance and harmony, and my ‘Seaweed Ladies’, abstracted human forms that give every appearance of communicating with one another. I have continued my experiments with mobius strips in spalted beech.

I have also submitted work to exhibit at the Liverpool Art Fair, as part of Affordable Art and am approaching a couple of new shops to stock my work – exciting times. More to follow on this soon.

Art Exhibition at CASC

The five Artists in Residence at the University of Chester have held an exhibition at CASC in the Grosvenor Precinct in Chester which has now come to and end. The pieces that I was exhibiting are now back at my studio and are available for sale.

I had four pieces in the exhibition which together are called ‘What Lies Beneath’ and ask the question do we care enough? Do we care enough to do anything about it?

The faceless mass of refugees,

In the fading sands of time,

How easily we forget them,

When they are not yours or mine.

Reciprocity 1 and 2

Dreamer

Innominate

Artist in Residence at Chester University

Much to my delight I have been selected to be an Artist in Residence at Chester University in the Department of Art and Design as part of the Artists into Art Colleges programme for 2022-23. There are 6 artists taking part this year.

It will involve working in the department both with students and with other artists. I hope to do some carving in the department and enable students to experience it if they are interested. As a group of artists we will talk to students about our experiences of being working artists.

I will also be working with the other artists, possibly independently or collaboratively to produce work for a final exhibition which will take place in Chester in February (more details to follow). Initially we will have a small exhibition of our existing work in the department as a means to introduce ourselves to the students and staff. Then start to work on our ideas and start to make art! I suspect my next few posts will look at how this developes.

Doing a commission

I have done a number of commissions over the years. It is a very different process to carving for an exhibition of carving because I have an idea that I want to develop and explore. It starts when I am approached and asked if I will carve a specific form or a particular piece of wood.

My favourite was a beautiful piece of wood from the branch of a tree that the customers mother had been very fond of. The wood had been found in the attic recently, could I make anything from it. We looked at many pieces of sculpture to help me understand the customers likes and dislikes.

I then made a plastercine maquette of an abstract sculpture based on the shape of the wood and thinking about the relationship between the customer and the mother. I invited the customer to come and view it and discuss the details and some possible options and the limitations and characteristics of the wood. I gave the customer a quote and time to think about the project.

Once all was agreed and a 50% deposit paid I started to carve the form, this was very daunting. It was a unique piece of wood that I could not replace if anything went wrong. When I am doing a commission there is the additional pressure of meeting the customers expectations. I try to manage this carefully by making a maquette and discussing aspects of the sculpture in advance. You cannot be sure of exactly what you will find inside a piece of wood in terms of cracks and imperfections that might alter the course of a carving. I invited the customer in a couple of times to see the carving as it progressed and to discuss details of the finishing process.

Once completed, oiled and waxed the commission was ready for its final viewing, payment and then to go to its new home. So far customers have loved the work I have produced for them, and for me a great sense of relief of completing a commission successfully.

Eternal Love

I have recently finished a new piece in spalted beech called Eternal Love. A bit tricky to carve as beech is quite hard to carve and the spalting makes the grain a bit unpredictable However the beautiful grain rally suits and abstract piece like this.

Spalting is caused by fungi growing in the living tree or after it has died and causes unique colouration and patterns in the wood. After carving it was sealed with two coats of Danish oil and finished with bees wax.

Eternal Love is a Mobius strip which is basically a strip which has been formed into a loop after giving one end a half twist. This creates a form which has one continuous side and one continuous edge, an infinite loop. It is a symbol of infinity, eternity and unity where two sides become one intertwined form.

New Carvings for Exhibition 2023

I have been invited to take part in an exhibition at Oakmere in Cheshire this year and so I am preparing some new carvings for this and other exhibitions. Here are the first two. More to follow soon.

‘Ocean Wave’ is now completed and has been selected to take part in the open exhibition at the Williamson Art Gallery from 5th-29th April.

I have nearly completed a piece in tulip wood called ‘Reawakening’. It just needs its final coat of wax and the plinth finishing.