Blog

Each year the swallows return to the farm. They nest in the old milking parlour, sometimes flying into the forge looking for new places to set up home. On late summer evenings, they gather in the lane above the farm, cork screwing and skimming over...

Sometimes a thing happens that triggers an emotional response. It could be a glimpse of something beautiful or the wish to express an experience or feeling. As an artist that works in metal I will inevitably begin to think of how I can represent...

I came up with this one several months ago. The design was okayed by the client and the deposit paid late last year. At time of writing this post, the frame of the gate sits on my workbench. The internal parts are all drawn out in chalk. Everything...

My workshop is on an old dairy farm. It’s no longer a working farm. The sheds are disused and the milking parlour is full of old unnamed pieces of rusty machinery and sings with the drips and flow of water whenever it rains. I was walking into the...

Time management as a self-employed designer-maker is a really important skill to master. Unfortunately I never have managed it… I’m always moving from job to job, always thinking “when I have time, I’m going to make this” or “when it gets a bit...

Once while out walking, I came to a field that was boarded on two sides by an ancient woodland. My path led me across this field and into the woods. It was a bright day, and the Sun was behind the trees, pushing their shadow out into the field, and...

I may have mentioned that I have a lot of sketchbooks and they are full of designs for gates, railings, fire iron sets etc. Some of these designs have been turned into metalwork, into three-dimensional pieces that now inhabit the world, others...

Design, it’s a difficult one. I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent staring at a blank piece of paper, waiting for inspiration to hit me, like a pink thunderbolt. When I start work for a new client, I like to send them at least two, more likely...

I’ve been considering the idea of making some garden sculptures of late. Based on my favourite plants. The foxglove sculpture is the first contender. It’s something that is constantly percolated at the back of my mind, but I’ve always had a slight...