gargoyles and others,

I carved Gorgeous George in response to two different projects; Dark Matter at Trinity and Gargoyles at Chelmsleywood.

The head of a mythical beast

The size compared to the viewer is important, you have to be able to imagine climbing in.

A very human choice, safety or danger
Elizabeth Frink  looks at this theme in her early work on  the Goggled head.
She talks about warriors; a necessary defence in tribal society yet has the potential to destroy the tribe.
This can be seen in modern society( military coos; Arab spring), as well as ( on a much smaller scale) our choices in daily life. in other words, we gamble.

Goggled Head 1969
Elizabeth Frink

Originally  I made George with massive fangs, but the breeze block crumbled. 

Once I removed the fangs (a risky business), I was able to open up his mouth to produce a better sculpture

Mother & Child theme proves popular at the right price

I was very happy to sell 2 pieces of sculpture this week, I had to settle on a price that does not in anyway reflect the amount of hours sent carving, It does reflect our present age of austerity, people just don't have a lot of money spare.

mother&child 2
2012
breeze block
sold £99

mother&child 1
2012
breeze block
sold £99

development of my portland stone Mother & child piece

I've been working on the Portland stone for about a month 22/9/13

I wanted to base the Portland stone on  this breeze block piece  I created last year while at trinity

Inspired by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. I was trying to get to the essence of the human form, using the simplest shapes (oval or egg shape), Expressing its essence while retaining the intimate gentleness of the subject

in the early stages a lot of stone had to be removed

I realised I could not get exactly the same shape as the breeze block due to an early mistake (mothers head should be bent over the child much more)

but I am still happy with the overall shape

I had to cut down on the mothers head  to get it in proportion

I'm confident this piece is developing well

it has plenty of potentially intimate angles

Painting for pleasure exhibition; The lodge Jephson Gardens, Sept 20th- 22nd, 2013

I have been a  Painting For Pleasure tutor for a few years now
November  last year We were  funded by, Awards For All to run a project looking at a variety of painting styles and movements from the 20 century come and see the results.

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5 day carving workshop; continued

Everyone had fun and produced amazing sculptures

at times working together as a family group

or independently

each member of the group working at their own level

using the knowledge of the group members to solve problems such as attaching a head to its base

A wonderful 5 day carving workshop

Last week I was commuting daily to the Baptist church,  Chelmsley Wood, Burmingham. Where I taught a small group of local people to carve in breeze block, Gargoyles inspired some people,  others came with their own ideas.

Development of a gargoyle 2

Development of a gargoyle 1