What influences my work?
I have spent 44 years studying primitive art, filling up my brain with images which give me a visual language to call upon subconsciously.
In our secular society, with an ever-decreasing attention span, I am looking for something deeper and more lasting.
I think people will start to want something which expresses the feelings of love, sadness anger and pain that we have numbed ourselves from.
"When I carve, it is a bit like dancing, I become totally absorbed and time and pain is forgotten.
There is the tap tap rhythm of the hammer which is hypnotic and calming, and even lines have rhythm.
There is an emotional link between me and the stone which some people can feel when they look at my work."
Slate
The slate pieces are a response to the material which I cut rather than carve. I start off making dozens of different shapes and experimenting with them. These are more planned, obviously because I need to measure, cut etc., but there is still a large element of working intuitively. I am interested in the colours of the natural material with its light and shade which is more dramatic in cut shapes.
Blue Stone into Bronze
The majority of my small bronzes started life as a piece of Bluestone from the Preselis. It is extremely hard to carve, speckled granite that exudes history. It is millions of years old and immensely satisfying to carve into something that will continue to last for millennia. It speaks to me like no other stone and evolves into something unexpected. If I had used any other material it would not have emerged in this way, influenced by its essence.
Wall Hung Reliefs
These assemblages are the result of putting together different components, and pieces, I have created out of natural materials such as wood slate, stone, metal and leather, with some added objets trouvés, such as bits of old watches and each tiny piece is cut, carved, sanded, dyed, textured or patinated. Using a limited palette of carefully chosen colours, orchestrating the juxtaposition of the shape and textures intuitively, into these panels.
Carving Stone
When I carve, it is a bit like dancing, I become totally absorbed and tiem and pain is forgotten. There is the tap tap rhythm of the hammer which is hypnotic and calming, and even lines have rhythm. There is an emotional link between me and the stone which some people can feel when they look at my work.
Paintings, Drawings and Mixed Media
Sculptors draw to understand what is there, not to make a picture but to explore the shapes.