Taking Delivery

I've had this postcard pinned to my notice board in the studio for such a long time now. I brought it back from my first trip to the marble quarries in Carrara, Italy in 1996. The experience was a real eye opener for me. I had never seen anything like it before. From the characters of the people who worked there, to the vast scale of the operation of quarrying marble. I remember there was only one  road up into the mountains and one road down. It was as frightening as it was thrilling, passing huge truks with a 7 ton load on hair pin bends. You definitely need a head for heights. I could never do their job. At the foot of the mountain there was a small outdoor museum which was an area roped off with a few notice boards telling the history of the place and old photos of when Musolini plundered the hills for some of the largest single blocks of marble for his buildings in Milan. However it was this postcard that caught my eye and made me smile when I was looking for my own souvenir to take away with me. It always triggers my memory when I'm about to take receipt of large blocks of stone myself. I have had to roll a few off the sides of trucks in the past but in the case of the Kilkenny from Ireland I'll be opting for a more straight forward and less damaging approach. The stone leaves the yard in Ireland today and should start its journey over to England and arrive in Kent by Tuesday. To find out more about the Cobtree Sculpture Commission please visit;http://thecobtreesculpture.blogspot.co.uk/

A sculpture with a twist

I have completed the base for the latest carving that I've been working on out of an off cut of Irish blue limestone. The initial notion I had was to use the drill markings and fluted marks already on the stone. This soon changed once I started masoning the faces. Its such a great material to work with and it always surprises me how many colour changes and variations one goes through when rubbing down the stones surface. However, on this occasion I felt that the best approach was to have all the faces smooth and scratch free including the underside of the curve on the bottom corner. The base stone is very dense and surprisingly heavy for such a small block. The carving which sits on top is also relatively heavy and I had several attempts at balancing the two together until I got the angle and lean I was happy with. Normally I would fix a pin to the base stone and set the sculpture on top, but this time I had to fix the pin to the sculpture's rounded base as the Irish blue limestone had originally been pre drilled with a wider drill hole and I could not determine the angle the carving would sit at. This process of fixing two stones together always requires a lot of manual lifting and shifting before committing to drilling and fixing. When you get it right and the two stones don't rock and remain stable without glue and the fixing pin is not visible from underneath, it is a very satisfying feeling. With only a short amount of time after studying the pleasing angles and views of the work the urgency to start work on the next idea soon creeps in and takes over, even though I know I will be glancing and feeling the stone for the next few weeks as it catches my eye as I walk past it.

'Growing Up Together' 2013. Portland Limestone and Irish Blue Limestone. 70 cm x 40 cm x 35 cm.

Twists and turns

Trying out an idea for a base after finalising the form of the stone. The Portland still needs to be polished but I'm happy with the curve and the twist. I've chosen a small off cut of Irish Blue Limestone for a base as it already has several drill marks on its surface which I want to use. It will still need a lot more work before fixing the two together.

Morning after the storm

They did say the wind was going to pick up! Luckily I was not in the workshop at the time, otherwise I think I may have been a little worried! The tree that did fall clipped the roof on its way down. Resulting in one big hole and one very flooded studio. Time to get the chainsaw and mop out!

Growing up Together

So the answer is, I did separate the carving from the bottom section! 

Exploration of the sea bed

As strange as it may sound, I've always been fascinated by the method of studying the earth’s crust through the process of core drilling!! In my exploration of this concept I have wanted to create a carving that captures this idea of searching, exploring and analysing something that relates to the past.
By using references and the samples drilled and extracted from the earth, I know I'm playing with a geological structure but want to use this visual form to suggest a more human and personal study of how we can go in search of hidden and personal histories.
This started out as one block but the more I remove, it is tending to lend itself to being removed completely from the attached cylinder bottom. This normally defeats the purpose of carving a large block of stone and I hope I don't regret what could have been achieved with two relatively smaller stones!
I'm confident though after doing a few rough sketches that it will all add to the evolution of the idea.

(Working title) Growing up Together.

Trails with Tales / The Cobtree Sculpture Trail.

This blog below will follow the production of four site specific stone sculptures designed by myself for the permanent display within 'Cobtree Manor Park'. The public art commission was an open submission competition devised by Maidstone Borough Council who have been working in partnership with the Cobtree Estate Committee.

The vision and concept is to create a sculpture trail around the newly regenerated park with an emphasis on encouraging visitors to explore the extent of the park while also celebrating its past history as Maistone zoo.
The project is anticipated to be completed over a period of five months and there will be regular updates on the blog, detailing the various stages from fabrication and production to the final installation.

http://thecobtreesculpture.blogspot.co.uk