Sculpture
With the sculptures I design and create the intent is to draw out the essence of the subject, to distill the form, the shape, the thing that makes it recognisable as a Foxglove or a Snowdrop or a Hollyhock. To exaggerate a curve or abstract a flower, to elongate a stem, but still keep the unmistakable heart of what the work represents.
The plants that I choose to represent through my work are all sculptural in themselves. There is little in the world of man or nature that is more intrinsically sculptural than a Snowdrop. A thing of such ephemeral beauty and delicacy, present for such a brief period each year. How should I express and articulate that grace and fragility in metal? This is the question I try to answer and the task I happily set myself.
Bluebell Sculpture Sketch
Foxglove Sculpture Sketch
When placed in a garden setting, whether as a centre piece in stark winter or intertwined in the planting during a verdant spring or summer. I strive to deliver work that is both elegant and fragile, and always has at its heart the essential quality of the plant it is inspired by.
My journey to work takes me up the hill from our house, along the lane leading into the fields following a footpath that in turn leads to the farm, and the old cow shed that is my workshop. The path is lined with hedgerows and each summer the foxgloves flower. One morning I stopped to watch and listen to a bumblebee as it squeezed into each flower, moving from one to the next. A thing of beauty. When I got to the workshop, I lit the forge and began to make my first Foxglove sculpture. That first sculpture released a flood of creativity. The collection has now grown to include examples of other plants; Snowdrops, Hollyhocks, Artichokes, Bluebells and Agapanthus. I’m never sure how nature will inspire me, but I am sure that the collection will keep growing.
The Sculpture Garden
