I love the organic quality of clay - in fact my BA Hons degree I gained in ceramic sculpture at Stoke on Trent College of Art, which at the time was probably the most famous place in the world for ceramics.
I was encouraged to develop my own style with freely modelled clay, but maintaining very conscious control of the overall form, and I am proud to say that I passed with first class honours.
In the commercial field, of course, I have often had to create crisp, geometric forms, smooth surfaces and intricate details, giving me an armoury of techniques that I enjoy combining in abstract fine art work.
Bronze high relief sculpture of Bronze Bream fish. Private commission, presented as a fishing trophy.
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At the present stage in my career I am particularly interested in pursuing my fine art interests, spurred on by designs that I made for a large civic art project in my home town of Keynsham (see below).
In this case, the commission was won by Sebastien Boysen, who has specialised in civic artwork for many years.
But realising the capacity I have for designing and making this sort of large scale civic work, and the encouragement I have had from those who have seen my designs, I believe that this will very much be my direction for the future.
This set of designs were created for a civic art project - a large (about 6m high) sculpture/clock tower for an extensive Town Centre development in my home town of Keynsham.
Keynsham is famous for its many ammonite fossils, and is named after 'St Keyna' who in an ancient legend is supposed to have cured the area of a plague of snakes by turning them to stone.
The fossils you find around the town are, according to legend, coiled petrified snakes. So, ammonites were an obvious theme to base a sculpture on, and that is what I went for.
The idea for the sculpture was to make an impression of ammonites, partly modelled and partly open, so you can see inside and through them to look light, delicate and floating from a distance, although in fact they would be very heavy and made from cast iron!
Another variation I submitted had separate clock faces at different levels, partly because from the west, view is restricted above 4m by an overhead gallery.
Keynsham clock tower seat design detail.
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I also included a seat based on the shape of the confluence of the rivers Avon and Chew, upon which Keynsham is built.
Details of the seat show the scale outline of the river set into the surface in stainless steel, along with circular pictorial plaques illustrating the history of Keynsham.
Another detail suggested that the stainless steel river profile only could perhaps pass through the inside of the ammonite shape.
Ultimately, the commission was won by civic art specialist Sebastien Boysen, who kindly said of the ammonite designs: "I looked at your proposals, and must say you have done an excellent job of visualising the design for what would be a really striking work."
I have been fortunate to have received several portrait commissions for public display over the years, plus private portrait and sculptural work. I enjoy the challenge of creating a good likeness without losing the spontaneity of the modelling.
This work I do entirely ‘in house’ in my sculpture workshop in Keynsham, so I have absolute control over what is created.
