Wednesday 24 December 2014

The Reductive Process

The task is to uncover everything that could lead towards a general principle of carving and to do so in a way that it is able to preserve its present and potential richness.  As a beginning, six distinct points of access need to be identified.
These are: a respect for margins, an appreciation of loss, the pull towards refinement, the thrill of exploration, the discipline of keeping to the core, and the ability to ‘re-live’ the sequence of an object’s creation while looking at a finished object.  
Looking deeper into these qualities might reveal some preliminary principles of reductive thought.


This one is going to have to wait until after Christmas!! Happy New Year Everyone.

A Ruled Surface!





Tuesday 14 October 2014

KDDA Awards in Production

I have been really drawn to this ragstone as a material for sculpture, especially in the final stages of the polishing process. It has been a very effective method, having the tiles laminated, as it has helped emphasis the diverse colours in the limestone and the geology of the ragstone from within the Gallagher’s Quarry at Hermitage Lane, Maidstone.
The geology of the ‘Hythe Beds’ is so called because they outcrop in the cliffs at Hythe. They run westwards through Kent into Surrey and from the Greensand Ridge. Maidstone and Sevenoaks sit on this Ragstone and the villages of Sutton Valence and Wateringbury are on the top of the ridge, which is where my studio is located. Its named Quarry Farm for that very reason, above the Weald of Kent. 
The Ragstone occurs in bands between 15cm and 60cm thick, alternating with a loose material called Hassock. By mixing the beds from a variety of different blocks,I have attempted to add detail, contrast and texture to each award by simulating the quarry face on a smaller scale.
The form I have chosen for the awards is modeled on the Kentish Oast Cowl. These wonderful white cowl chimneys can be found on oast houses, which dot the landscape of Kent and beyond. These distinctive buildings were originally designed for drying hops as part of the brewing process, but most surviving oast houses have been converted into houses today. Early oast houses were simply adapted barns, but by the early 19th century the distinctive circular buildings with conical roofs were developed in response to the increased demand for beer!



Seven awards have now been created for the different winning categories for the KDDA awards. The dimensions for the carvings have been created using 49 ragstone tiles, which have been laminated together and fixed to an angular base. A further sculpture will be created for the over all winner of the Kent Design Development Awards.




Friday 8 August 2014

Filters and Sunshine!

My mantra for the last few weeks has been, “Spend another day on it’, Spend another day on it”, so much so is my desire for accuracy! Unfortunately this is the way it has to be when you are not content with how the overall sculptural form is looking. For me, it has to work from all angles. Strangely, some of the best angles and perspectives are when you are above the sculpture looking down and through it. I will take some photos from above and post them when complete. However, it’s the slight changes needed to a curve or if a line is too straight which makes all the difference. If the lines are not working together it can throw everything out, which makes it unsettling on the eye as well as the adjoining line or curve. The only solution is to get out the pencil and to draw straight onto the sculpture, ready to carve, trim and tighten, pulling everything together. 
With the sculpture having its final hole cut through the bottom section I am delighted how this looks as it still has retained a solidness to its form. It will slowly become wider, with the crescent opening until it emphasises a greater lean, sweeping and twisting around the back of the sculpture.
The next step now is to begin the drawing, transferring and texturing of imagery onto the front bands of stone. These will include the topographical map of the Cobtree area, leaf patterns and water patterns. However, this will have to wait a few weeks, as there is a very important issue of travelling to Italy, in search of sun, sea and stone!!



Saturday 19 July 2014

The Next Apprentice!

I had the pleasure of welcoming a small group of budding artist’s from Barming Primary school to the workshop the other day to have a look at the development of the Cobtree Entrance Sculpture and to try their hand at a bit of stone carving. The children arrived with no hesitation about getting dusty and picking up a hammer and chisel. It was very refreshing to hear the children answer questions about art, their inspirations and even their knowledge of stone and geology was impressive, clearly a reflection of their education from both teachers and parents. Luckily I did not get put on the spot too much regarding answering questions about some of the more abstract works in the studio! It’s a great leveler having your work interpreted by younger eyes; it helps dilute the pretentiousness that once may have been present when conceptualizing your ideas!  With their pockets full of small stones for souvenirs the children were encouraged to be make a trip to The Cobtree Park to view, touch and draw the other stone carvings that have been installed along the sculpture trail.



Sunday 13 July 2014

Pierced Form

Progress is being made even if it is a little slower than I would like.  The past few days have become disrupted by bad weather and returning phone calls! It has been my colleagues that have been visiting the workshop that have probably noticed a greater difference in the carving and the one thing that I get complemented on is the patience I seem to be displaying on such a large carving. I never really think about how long things take, I just think about doing the best I can with the stone and finding the correct form, irrespective of how long it will take me to get there.
The one thing that I have been keen to get going on and that could really speed up the process was the piercing of the stone. These holes through the stone would really help me determine how narrow each band of stone will need to be.  Its an exciting point in the process, tunneling your way through the rock, making a route through time. I am always reminded by the concepts of Barbara Hepworth’s carvings more than Henry Moore when I think about making holes in sculptures.
‘The hole becomes a way back and a way forward through the sculpture. The hole is also the place occupied by the air we are breathing.  In the space inside, or rather through the sculpture, time is both present and meaningless – and that is time’s true nature, it does and it does not exist’ (Hepworth 1934, cited in Winterson, 1934: 17-25).


Saturday 28 June 2014

Close Up on Patterns






Close Up!

The back of the sculpture is very different to the front of the carving. It is also the area that I didn't resolve as much when working on the model. I always knew I would be slowly feeling my way around the stone, pushing planes back and bringing  areas forward.
Its interesting that the lines that I had drawn on the stone to indicate what needs to be removed at the very start are now the lines I am cutting. However, when you do start to cut and carve you are always considering alternatives with the carving or new possibilities with the form of the sculpture. Could that be made thinner? Can I go deeper? Do I need to change the angle of that surface?  Normally my instinct is right from the start but I am always aware that sometimes you can be too hasty and miss an opportunity to do something different. When you have taken it away there is no putting it back and the material is not very forgiving when you make the wrong decisions!! Now that the lines are cut into the back my emphasis will now be on the twist from the side profiles. The edges are rising up 2.5m so the lines need to be elegant and subtle for the twists to work. There is no more standing on the ground now which is giving me a different perspective on the carving seeing it from above. Preparation is key at the moment on getting the best and most comfortable working positions for the day ahead.

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Making the first move!

It seemed like the perfect time to make the first attempt to move the block and get it upright! I felt I had removed as much of the stone as I could at this stage and in order to progress I was going to have to think about the lift. Everything up until this stage has felt very mechanical about my way of working. The blocking out stage is always pretty straight forward and not necessarily that interesting! It does however require tremendous amounts of splitting and cutting, which also requires the motivation and energy of course to keep repeating the process.
However, excitement and trepidation always builds when you know you are going to see the stone standing and be only one of a handful of people who will have seen the back of the stone for the first time. There is still around 2.5 ton in the block and I am aiming to have this reduced to around 2 ton by the time I have worked the back and the sculpture is nearing completion. Until that time there is still a lot more grinding to be done.

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Standing Stone

 Its not going to be long before I have to raise the stone upright. There is only so much I can do with the stone lying flat, I need to improve the angles and curves of the lines before making any further deeper cuts and this can only be achieved with the stone standing. The rubble removed each day appears to be getting less and less as I am just removing chippings as I carve out the centre and the curves around the top. Surprisingly today was recorded as being one of the hottest days of the year so far, but Im not going to use that as an excuse for slow progress!



A Use For Everything

All the largest cuts have been made and the 4 ton slab has shed the last of its heaviest sections. I have tried to block out and remove the stone in a way so that it would still be useful for creating some smaller stone sculptures. After gathering up all the off cuts, I was pretty pleased with what I had ended up with. These lumps of stone may appear to anyone else as worthless, but to me they have the potential for a  series of smaller organic indoor sculptures. I am especially drawn to the stones with an unusual twist and line in their form. These existing shapes will definitely trigger further explorations in the stone, as I will be guided by and carve directly with whats in front of me, allowing the distinct form to determine the abstracted outcome.

Friday 6 June 2014

Twists and Turns!

The dust doesn't have time to settle at the moment as I'm trying to make up for days of rain and disruptions. Ive taken a little more time on finishing one profile of the sculpture and I am finally ready to start working across the top surface. I have made a small scale model to help me understand where the three folds will meet and loop with each other. Its a slow process but I'm carefully nibbling away at the stone. Even though its a massive slab I am conscious I want to retain as much of the high points until the stone is standing upright. The block is very top heavy at the moment, even after a day of grinding, pitching and punching, the first band of stone is starting to take shape. I am happy that it appears a lot wider now than first imagined. When I move around to the opposite side tomorrow I know I can really start to remove some of the bulk at the top. Already I'm starting to get a feel of the movement that needs to go into the stone as it needs to curve, dip and rise, interlocking what eventually will be three pierced stripes. It may sound strange, but I always get the same feeling when Im thinking about the process of a new carving and it normally happens just before I go to sleep. When I close my eyes I can follow the lines and mentally remove the stone in my mind, in a way this prepares me for how and what I need to be getting on with the following day. Roll on the sunshine!!


Friday 23 May 2014

Quarry Visit

Gallagher’s Hermitage Lane Quarry is a few miles away from my studio in Maidstone, Kent and it was a great pleasure to be given a guided tour around the whole site the other day. The reason for the quarry visit was due to a new commission I am going to be working on soon, which will see me use the Kentish ragstone donated by Gallagher’s quarry for the production of 8 trophies for the Kent Design and Development Awards which recognises excellence in building and architecture across the county of Kent.
The tour was lead by the mason manager, Vince Tourle, a very experienced and knowledgeable mason. The sun was beating down as we descended down into the heart of the operations. It’s only when you are at this level you can really experience the rock strata’s and geological history of the land.
I have never really used the ragstone for anything other than small bases for sculptures and as it is a limestone it takes a wonderful polish. However, because of its thickness of bed it has never appealed to me as a stone for carving. The other possible reason that I may have been put off working the stone is because the term ‘rag’ is used to describe a stone that is very hard to work!! After being shown what Vince is producing and cutting at the moment on the jaw dropping saw in the quarry I was like a kid in a sweet shop. Not only was I thinking how I could use a variety of different sawn blocks of ragstone for the awards but also introducing larger dimension slabs into my studio and gallery sculptures!! I can’t wait to get some of the samples back and seeing how the stone can perform for me.





A Van Voorden Apollo 6 primary saw with a 3m diameter blade is installed at Hermitage Quarry. This enables 'sawn six sided' and ‘dimensional slab’ Kentish Ragstone to be supplied to stone masons. Carrying out the primary sawing in the quarry reduces transport costs, greatly reduces waste management at the stone mason’s works and enables the off-cuts to be put into the aggregate process.