Translucence

Today I began to work the finish up to a polish. This is partly to see how the translucence of the stone affects the reading of the form. Once polished the form is less easy to read as you can see into the stone. I am glad that the forms on this work are bold; less bold work would be lost in the translucence. I shall see how I find it tomorrow in the clear light of morning. I am not completely happy with some of the shapes and the way they join one another. The ones that work best are close to the alkathene pipe shapes described earlier. The fattening of the form at the join provides a wonderful tension that is so much more energetic than two tubular forms meeting each other at an angle.

Building the forms

Today I have been working on the balance of the forms. The forms on top were necessarily slim as there was not much stone up there. Today I have pushed those forms down towards the floor a little so as to get them nicely balanced. The lower forms then all need to be slimmed down as they all looked very heavy in comparison. At the end of the day the whole is beginning to look more homogenous as if the parts belong together. I sanded one part and could see that the end result will be delightfully translucent. More to do tomorrow. Jordan worked on the barn windows. He looked very happy to be working with the oak again and gaining in confidence with woodwork.

A new start

I started a new carving today. The preparations for On Form are more or less complete and it was time for a new start. It is easy to spend time worrying about which direction to head in, which avenue of my work to pursue. This time I simply fetched a block of Onyx from the pile in the field and split it in two. The block had a serious fault line running through it; so serious that I could not ignore it. The carving would not only have had a very serious scar through it but would almost certainly have broken in two before I had finished. Experience has led me to always start by cutting away any bad stone before starting. This process is quite liberating as the infinite number of options are reduced to something less overwhelming as the block becomes a specific shape. I have started on a carving that employs the ‘bent alkathene pipe joint’. This is a device for articulating a joint that I first employed during my 100 day series, which derived from the observation of blue plastic pipe. Farmers will often bend the pipe back on itself and fasten it with a piece of string to act as a temporary tap. It seems like a good place to start a new series of work. I have an exhibition at John Martin gallery in the autumn.

Re-working a carving

I don’t often do this. Normally I carve something from start to finish in one go. This sculpture that was started a few months ago has been bothering me for some time.Something was unsatisfactory about it. It feels good to have another go at it. I think it was all looking too heavy; too lumpen. The trouble is that the stone is not strong and I may well be pushing it beyond what it can take. If it falls to bits however I shall have to be philosophical; it cannot stay as it is and be loosed on the world. I also sprayed up the steel bases. Very badly however, one has dribbles. I shall rub it down again and put another layer on tomorrow.

Fixing stainless rods

Good progress today on the large marble sculpture. All the rods are glued into place. The resin glue is very stiff as I bought industrial quantities of it and it has gently stiffened over time. The glue is poked down the hole with a piece of wood and the stainless rod inserted. The trouble is that the air inside has to leave and force its way past the rod through the very viscose glue. Each rod needed to protrude 167mm so as to be level with each other. After much pushing out of reluctant bubbles, Jordan and I got them all more or less in line. There might be one that protrudes a couple of millimetres too far which will need cutting back with a grinder. Todays picture is of the green onyx sculpture which is undergoing the same procedure. Rather more awkward than the marble as there are no straight lines at all and the sculpture will be taller at one end than the other. As a result there will be more rod exposed at one end than the other. The bits of wood seen are to help me guess at getting the rods glued in the right place. I am a bit nervous as there is no way back. The rods once in, cannot be removed.

Catalogue photo

Pooch and I cleared the debris aside to photograph this piece for the onform London exhibition which is happening later in the spring. This onyx is so beautiful when you achieve a good finish but requires great effort to get there. The stone is crammed full of faults and cracks and will chip at any opportunity. Any cutting that gets the stone hot will result in it scorching and cracking.Still such outlandish beauty could never come easily I suppose.Simple forms would seem to work best with this kind of outrageously gorgeous stone, otherwise it fells like ‘painting the lily’. When I see Pooch’s incredible picture however I forget all the anguish; well almost.

Shape forming

Jordan has gone on holiday for three weeks, lucky man. I can now give all my attention to sculpture whilst he is away. I realised today how much time is taken up managing him and making sure that he knows what he is doing. Do not take this as any kind of grumble however; he is keen,and never afraid to ask for help when he is stuck. A great quality in my opinion.

The outside of the bell form is coming on well and I spent some time evening out the sides to try and get it even and without a lump on one side. I am still putting off the decision about the edge. A flat ribbon edge? A sharp edge? Rounded? A crucial decision as I have said before but one I must make soon. I think my marble from Italy will be arriving in the next few days. I shall need to clear lots of room in order to unload it. I will not want to try and move the two six ton blocks once they have been put down.

Depth Gage

I must now proceed with caution and not let my mind wander onto what is for supper or to get distracted by some conversation on the radio. I have done it before. I cut right through a sculpture by not being cautious. Having said all this however i am not trying to get down to a thin depth. I do not dare go much thinner than about ten centimetres with this crumbly fault ridden ‘bird of paradise’. I now make regular measurements with my homemade wooden callipers. In the photograph you can see the number 13 showing me that at that point I can still remove a further three centimetres. On the large thin sheets of marble that I was working on last summer there was a moment when the surface was covered with a multitude of numbers. This should be easy by comparison. Not cutting a hole in the sculpture is of course only a little technical distraction.Much more important is to make it the best shape possible. This remains fluid in my mind. Uncertain.I shall let the problem wait and hope that things become clear as we progress.

Trumpet form emerges

The digging is almost over and the inside is fairly smooth. I think it will need finishing by hand with a piece of ‘wet and dry’ sandpaper. This would bring out the colours which are relatively muted at the moment but will become much stronger with each progression through the grades of paper. How strong I want them to be is a difficult question to answer. Normally when working with less ‘glamorous’ stones my tendency is to err on the side of a fairly matt finish. I find too silky a finish distracting from the form which I suppose I consider to be the most important thing in sculpture. With this onyx however it is so ‘glamorous’ I am going to let it shine like some glorious multi coloured bird of paradise. It would seem very churlish to hold it back even if I am more accustomed to less glamour. This fantastical bird is so alien to me, unlike the muted browns that we find on our native birds for instance, or the clothes on our native peoples for that matter. In the picture I have wetted a patch to show how the colour will change.

Digging again

Hey ho hey ho its off to work we go… I seem to be doing lots of this at the moment. pushing holes deep into blocks of stone. Digging. I am not sure how to treat the outer edge. Should it  fold back? Should it have a sharp edge on the rim or a clean inch thick rim? I have left all options open at the moment and will put off the decision until other parts of the carving are progressed further. The rest of the surface will be a smooth transition in and out of the deep recess. The outer edge becomes all the more crucial because of this.

Crazy stone

It is so difficult to know how to treat an onyx like this. There are a multitude of strata in all sorts of different colours. The overall effect is wonderful but overwhelming. The stone is saying so much I have concluded that it is best to try something very simple. This material also presents technical difficulties as its strata are also fault lines which can split at any time. Although this would spell disaster in a clean coloured marble I am not overly concerned about gluing this stone together as any glue marks are lost in the overall mayhem of colour and fault lines. The stone also varies enormously in its hardness and is therefore tricky to get smooth. Apart from the above however it is a delight. I found it last time I was in Italy and thought it would be fun to try it out. You don’t get much sense of the colours in this picture but just wait until it is polished!

test

testing 2

Still polishing

Not much to say about today except that my fingers have lost their prints because of sandpapering all day. Most of the work is done with an electric sander but the final edges are still best done by hand. All those little wobbly bits and chips have to be removed. Towards the end of the day I cut a big block of marble in half to be ready for starting a new piece next week.

Fine tuning the shape

I have been tweaking the shape of the sculpture all day. I did not like the flat form at the top and back. The bottom half was big and bulbous but the top looked a bit mean in comparison. I try to avoid too many convex areas in my sculptures. Although there was no convex area at the top of the carving there was certainly a flat part. I have removed the flat area and cut back some of the excess bulbous-ness at the bottom. I am much happier with the overall shape now and all that remains is some painstaking sanding to remove all the lumps, bumps and irregularities. I remember my old friend Michael Black of Oxford telling me to spend a whole day on a piece that I considered finished. What brilliant advice it was.

Heat cracks onyx!

I spent all day digging out the interior of the sculpture and discovered that the stone will expand and crack if allowed to get too hot. Luckily the area damaged was small and i was able to cut the damage away. Onyx seems to be much more sensitive to heat than marble. The sun shone all day although it was too dark to continue at 5pm.

Change of plan

Standing before my new work this morning I had a change of plan. The square front to the piece looked unsatisfactory and I chopped out a new shape rather impulsively before I changed my mind. The new shape is better with the sides pulling in at the middle.This ‘waist’ gives a little nod towards figuration and the curves now flow in and out really nicely.  In this picture I have not yet rounded the bottom half but have left it squared as it is easier and more stable like that. Digging out the inside will be a big job with the dust spitting up in my face.The translucence is already visible.

I would rather work outside but the frequent showers keep me undercover. I am thinking of making a movable structure that I can work beneath but one that allows the wind to blow through to blow away the dust.

This is a sketch of the idea for my movable shelter. I could get some big wheels so that it could be wheeled out of the way if the sun shone.

Sanding by hand

A frosty morning with the first hour spent clogging sandpaper with melting frost mixed with onyx dust. All day was spent sanding inside the curl by hand. Very slow work but much better by this evening. I stood the piece up for the first time. The sculpture does not quite stand up straight. I will have to make the necessary adjustment to the base. I gave a wild cat an old egg that a chicken had laid in the barn. He was very happy with the treat. He looks much healthier than our house cats.Funny that, it makes me wonder what is in cat food. Pooch my photographer friend turned up hence the lovely picture today.

New Website is live

Not only am I blogging for the first time but my new and improved website is launching. The brilliant Tim Stafford has helped us design and make it so wonderful. So thank you Tim. I now feel much more connected to the world. Being an artist is a strange existence as I spend most of my time alone with my work, it is nice to be able to reach out in this way too. Blogging, facebook and a much more connected website too. In the past I have felt that the only time I get to feel any feedback from the outside world is at the opening of an exhibition. Then I am like a rabbit blinking in the headlights with so much feedback all at once.

Today the sun has shone. Cold and clear and absolutely perfect for work. The perfect day was capped off with a giant orange moon coming up behind the shed. The onyx is almost down to its final shape and has not yet fallen to bits. The colour continues to amaze and delight me. It almost looks edible.

The moon looked much bigger than this!

Health scare

I spent all yesterday at the hospital as I had a sore chest. Of course the moment you mention something wrong with your chest they rush you off to get it checked out as it sounds like a heart attack. Barnstaple hospital gave me a full check and pronounced me very healthy. They found nothing wrong with my heart,lungs kidney or blood pressure. A huge relief as I was terrified for a moment. I now think it was something that has been going round the family and settled on my chest.

Today I worked on the white onyx piece and it is taking shape well. There are all sorts of cracks in it and I wonder if it will hold together. The colour and translucence is very seductive. I think I am asking the material to do a little too much with this piece, better to carve something more solid.

Onyx and rain

The yard is fresh washed from the deluge and I am happy to be back out under clear skies. I have plumped for a simple version of a sculpture that I had in mind although I do have reservations about it. There comes a time when you just have to say, “ to hell with procrastination” and just get on with it. In some way, to do nothing is worse than to do something not quite right. Better to keep on and to gain momentum than to grind to a halt in worry.