Getting clearer

It was lovely to stand this piece up for the first time. Fairly easy now that most of the weight has been removed. I am still excited about where this sculpture is headed. A painter friend, Peter Stiles came by and came to look at my recent works. He immediately talked of stacking and how Picasso had done a lot of painting where angular forms would seem to stack upon one another. Braque too comes to mind. I had not thought of any of this. The stacking that I am doing is arrived at in a quite different way, the forms have always been repetitions of each other and the changes incremental. It is interesting however to have this reference in my mind, thanks Peter. I recommend that you check out his paintings.

Complicated

This is a bit of a brain teaser. The almond shapes twist round and fan out like a deck of cards. I have begun to uncover the forms carrying out one cut on each form and then repeating it until all the forms have received the same treatment. Reaching inside the hole will be most awkward but can be left until most of the outer more accessible forms are well advanced. This sculpture is more figurative than most of the sculptures in this series. By this I mean it is closer to a natural form rather than actually looking like a figure. I generally do not like to come too close to representing something in the natural world. I prefer the sculptures to stand a little more apart.

Fine tuning

I have spent the day working over the surface of the carving with sandpapers. I start with a really rough ‘Tarmac’ grade which removes lots of material enabling one to make small alterations to the forms. Once I have worked the whole surface over with this I progress through ever finer papers. Each step up in grade removes less material but improves the quality of the finish. I did not quite have time to stand it up today. Moving this sculpture is going to be tricky as there are lots of delicate points everywhere. I might have to build a special frame to transport it.

Bigger version with a twist

I liked the last piece with the square mushrooms wobbling upwards, so I am trying a new version. The top forms will be twisted 45% from the bottom. I am taking a good deal of trouble to get the shape of the sculpture as I want it before getting involved with the individual forms. I am of course itching to reveal those forms and have to hold myself back to some extent. The Matbro is back and working thanks to my wonderful neighbour Rich. I was alarmed however to find that it was not where I parked it last night. The handbrake obviously needs some further adjustment as the machine had rolled out of the shed in the night. Luckily the wheels were not aligned and it turned away from the huge hole that I have dug for the compost. Had the wheels been turned the other way, it would have rolled straight in!

Careful work

This new piece is looking stronger. The neater the shapes are the better it reads. I do not want to see too much of the underside of the forms and I therefore need to undercut each individual ‘mushroom’ as much as I can without the corners becoming too fragile. Slow and patient work but a good day in the late summer sun. The bees whose hives can be seen from where I work are flying less and seem to be spending much of their days fighting off the wasps who are determined to rob them of their winter stores.

The acting world is safe

The day happened. Western power provided a generator; eventually. The first one ran but gave no power. The filmmakers filmed me all day and I nattered on about my work. All was going well ( and I was beginning to fancy myself on the stage) until the director asked me to do a scene again as I had not said it as well as when we had been talking casually. I had omitted a crucial part. By the time we had done three ‘takes’ I was feeling rather hot and very self conscious.Yes the acting world can sleep easy. Chatting away about my work is easy enough but having to remember what to say, what to omit and where to stand whilst you say it is too clever for me.I shall look upon actors with newfound admiration. I got a few hours done on my carving which progresses well.

A new beginning

I have a new block started following an idea that I carved earlier in the series. The stack of symmetrical forms bringing to mind a stack of books or an oriental temple with multiple diminishing roofs. I plan to stack the forms once more but differently. I have a film crew coming tomorrow to start making a short film about my work. My gallery in London (John Martin) are using them for promoting  their artists. As bad timing has it Western Power have decided to do ‘essential’ work on our supply tomorrow and we shall have no power all day. To their credit however they have agreed to lend me a generator for the day. I only need enough power to feed my power tools and the film crews lighting rig. Perhaps they will not need the lights if the sun shines as it did today.

Still tweaking

I just cannot let this one go. I work on an area and then working my way through the various grades of abrasive bring the worked on area up to a smooth finish in order to reflect upon the whole once more. Somehow the whole day was taken up in this manner. A few spoonful's of dust and little changes here and there. I shall look at it once more, with fresh eyes in the morning. I hear from Rich at the farm that the Matbro is ready for collection. I need it to load the trailer with work to go to the Joze Show in Sussex. Apparently the seals on the replacement ram are damaged so that the boom drops slowly. We shall have to get a new seal kit fitted to the ram but hopefully I can manage to load the trailer even with the dropping arm.

Slimming down

Very slowly I have been thinning down the figure. Of course in carving, a figure always gets ‘thinner’ as you can only take material away. I do find it a fascinating business trying to make a female figure look fairly light on her feet when in reality she makes the Incredible Hulk look like a lightweight. I don’t really feel that I have developed a strong ‘language’ in figurative carving as it has only ever been an occasional thing for me. I might perhaps do a whole series sometime to see what develops.

Something completely different

With the Matbro in the process of being repaired I cannot easily move heavy blocks around. I have been working on a small figure that can be lifted without the need for heavy machinery. Such a change from the sculptures I have been working on for my exhibition at John Martin gallery. The change however is refreshing and requires different thought processes than more abstract sculptures, and stimulates different senses accordingly. Making a complete figure in marble demands massive legs or it would break. It is interesting working with this sort of constraint. I have had the whole of the John Martin collection photographed by Pooch and sent the images off to the gallery in London. They seem to like what I have done so far.

Piercing begun

Cutting into the inside of this piece will take a while as it is all tricky to reach. I cannot yet see if the sculpture will work as it is. I am proceeding quite well but have my reservations about it. Will it work well with flowing square sections? I suspect not. I am ready to change it as soon as I can see the whole clearly enough.

I have begun making enquiries about parts for my stricken telehandler. I am waiting for my wonderful neighbours to help me get it out of the field where it broke down. Still kicking myself for not having checked the main ram was secure, allowing it to work itself free and do such considerable damage. What a fool am I.

Twisting again but Matbro disaster

I have begun to put the twists into the new carving. It is no easy matter trying to plan how much twist should go into each section and which way it should turn. I decided that where the parts cross each other they should be exactly diagonal so as to present the best access. At the top and bottom the sections should be square and parallel to the floor to allow best contact for the base pin. Having decided these criteria the rest fell into place. The other news is that I have badly damaged the telehandler. The main hydraulic ram wobbled itself free and then broke from its end. I then, unaware of the problem but wondering why the boom was not lifting pushed the ram end straight into the gearbox. The power of the ram is so huge that it smashed its way through the gearbox housing and bent all the surrounding metal. What a fool I feel not to notice the pin wobbling free.

Glutton for punishment

There are still a few wobbles in the tricky points of the last sculpture but I have put it aside and started another with a double twist. I can leave the cleaning up till later when the creative flow of this series dies off as it is bound to do at some point. Although the crossing was very tricky to achieve I have started a piece with not one but two crossing points. I am not yet sure if I will split this second crossing piece into segments or not. I might simply put a twist on the already twisting forms. The problem of losing too much strength will be amplified with the addition of the second crossing and to try and further weaken the whole by splitting it into segments might be foolhardy. The feeling of the sculpture without segments will of course be radically different. We shall see if it works out well.

Separated halves

The two parts of the sculpture have been separated. The segments nearest the crossing point are still not very well finished but getting any kind of tool into those confined spaces is difficult and in the end a great deal of the work needs to be done by hand with knuckles knocking against the opposite segments. Awkward and knuckle busting but I am happy with the way it looks. Perhaps I might try another piece along these lines. More twists perhaps which would bring double helix associations I suppose.

Complicated twist

This is certainly a challenge to make. Before carving the individual segments I resolved to carve the form circular in section.The inside sections are very difficult to reach and for the moment the two halves touch in the middle. I would hope to be able to separate them at the end but will leave the material in between whilst working on the rest of the carving so as to provide a little extra strength. This will end up as being quite delicate and I must take care not to leave the joints between the segments too thin. I have been considering having the sculpture lying on its side with two points touching the base, but in the end decided on standing the piece vertically as originally proposed.

Splitting off a new block

I have a new piece started. I am a little uncertain about this sculptural direction and dithered too long at that awful sculptural crossroads. I am planning to sculpt another segmented piece but in a figure of eight form where the crossing parts do not touch. This is technically difficult, but more problematically is taking the current series off in a new direction which I am by no means sure of. Whilst carving my 100 day series, I found myself relaxing about these decisions. I told myself that it was only a day of my life and it was after all a response to a legitimate impulse. Why not? Perhaps the decision is a little like trying on an article of clothing. You never really know for sure if it is for you or not until you have tried it on. With these thoughts in mind I sallied forth into unknown territory today.

Is it Fibonacci?

Someone asked me recently if my work was about Fibonacci? Perhaps they were thinking of Peter Randall page who uses him as a major source of inspiration. I dismissed the question outright as he has never been in my thoughts. Then on thinking about it further, the current series is involving the repetition of the same shaped forms. I don’t think this is quite Fibonacci related but there is something none the less. Perhaps he had an uncle who repeated natural shapes but was no good at maths? I have set aside the last of the circular shapes and begun a new wobbling upwards form. The sculpture itself does not yet make very interesting viewing so here is a photo of ideas on a block. Ideas that all relate to Fibonacci’s uncle.

Slanted segments

The sculpture is beginning to take shape. The same sort of petal forms but laying on top of one another. I just need to work systematically to ensure that the petals remain roughly equal to one another. From here on the forms will become more rounded and softer. A second swarm of bees has arrived much to my delight although it could be the first lot relocating for some reason known only to themselves. There are still bees buzzing at the first hive but much less energetically.

Winter wonderland

The whole yard and greenhouse is turning white as there has been no rain for weeks to wash it away. Greenhouses are often painted white in summer to stop too much light entering so perhaps that does not work out too badly. I prepared the fourth and final disc today feeling sure that they will make a really strong group. I have an idea for the last one to go back to the more rounded organic forms but to stack them in a slant. Difficult to explain but hopefully all will become clear over the next few days.

Sharp edges

This sculpture came on well today with the forms gradually being shaped and sharpened. I will have to think carefully as to how I will mount these works. There will be a pin into the base of the sculpture, but coming out of what? On the right of the picture below you can see the segment that has a flattened bottom to receive the pin. I have enjoyed the difference between this piece and the one before. This sculpture is square in section and the previous one round. What a difference this makes. The square forms give points which demonstrate the shape really well and making the whole thing feel more mechanical and manmade. Further from a natural organic form.