Free Clay Workshop

This Saturday I will be hosting a free pottery workshop at Alby Craft Centre (Norfolk). Every 6 months we put on an event at the Craft Centre and this spring we realised that as craftspeople we have the means to entertain people ourselves. After much talk of wodturning competitions and other things that challenged health and safety regulations, we settled for more sedate Spinning, flower arranging, card, fabric doll and clock making and pottery.
Thats were my bit comes in. Having set up Anglia Clay Supplies last year I have a little clay about the place! If you have ever wanted to have a go at making 'Pinch Pots' and 'Coil Pots' now is your chance. Pop over on Saturday 16th May between 12 & 5 and have some fun with us. As well as the demos I have already mentioned, we will also have chainsaw carving, flying birds of prey, beekeeping displays, live music and face painting.

The Romantic Garden Nursery

After morning downpours that threatened to turn my sculpture soggy, the day brightened and warmed to a really pleasant afternoon. As I sculpted detail into my pinecone and chatted to visitors to the nursery I was surrounded by some beautiful plants. The Bottle brush tree with its unusual flowers and seed pods caught my attention and got my mind dreaming up potential sculptural forms.






Pictured below is Brian Turner looking rightly proud of his display of lead sculpture, fountains and planters.

Beside him is the pinecone design we were working on for last years Chelsea Flower Show. Behind him in the picture is a statue we have been making a mould of in order to repair and reproduce it.
The statue is 300 years old and despite damage and general distortion from bearing its own weight for all that time, it has the most amazing detail I have ever seen in lead, down to stitching on the shoes and dress and individual hairs carved into gorgeous curls.

Lets hope the weather is as good tomorrow as it ended up being today.

A Sculpture for The Romantic Gardens

On the 8th and 9th of May I have been invited to demonstrate sculpting at the Romantic Gardens Nursery at Swannington in Norfolk. They are hosting a special invitation-only event showing off some of the amazing Topiary they specialise in alongside some of Brian Turners fantastic lead sculpture, planters and water features. Of course I have to admit I am slightly biased when it comes to Brians work as I sculpt some of his patterns, including the pinecone water feature that I talked about in a post here on the blog last year.

I felt the ideal sculpture to be working on at the show would be a similar type of finial to the pinecone, maybe an artichoke. Both Brian and myself are particularly fond of these natural forms and the Fibonacci spiral that develops as you build up the pattern of leaves, petals or seeds.
I started this sculpture today by throwing the basic form on the wheel, hopefully it will firm up enough for me to start a little bit of work on it before taking it along to the do on Friday.
The base is as it will be, but the 'fat carrot' bit is the base on which to sculpt on each individual leaf or petal of the artichoke. Watch this space to see how it develops.

New nudes

Here are the nudes fresh from the kiln, and I'm really pleased with the results. I've placed my favourite one in the centre of the group for the photo, and if I had not promised six pieces for the gallery I would be tempted to take that one home for the mantle piece!