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 reticence to commit to it.
I think it’s the fact that, although a lot of my functional design has a sculptural feel to it, it is in the end just that, functional.
That’s not to say that they are less valuable than pure sculpture. It’s just that because they have a purpose, it gives me a starting point, something they are anchored to. “Form follows function” as Louise Sullivan famously said.
Enter the Foxglove Sculpture
Sculpture is so free that I’ve always found it almost impossible to know where to start. On the occasion I’ve decided on a starting point, I’ve never been confident it will look good enough. That, after all, is a very important consideration.
When you have the whole world to choose from, how do you decide where to begin?
But I’ve made a commitment. I’ve decided to grasp the nettle. I’ve got an idea that excites me. It draws together various themes that have run through my work for as long as I’ve been self-employed and it centres around a concept that I have been trying to express in various ways for many years.
I’ll explain more as and when I get time to make the various parts that will form the final piece, but it all starts with a foxglove. I hope you like it…
