Small and large scale
works for sale or commission,
for interiors, gardens and public sites
EPIC River Project
The story of creating the wood feature sculptures
These are the three
designs which are drawn out 1:5 scale.
This is what I measure off and start shaping the wood to.
I also make scale
models in wire, plaster and Das. These are invaluable for setting
out the shape and following the design round as a three dimensional
form.
You can see one laying on the wood below and in several of the other
photos
The wood was delivered by the sawmill onto the lawn in front of the studio
during the first Covid lockdown. Two pieces were over 300kg and I
couldn't get the crane legs underneath without hoisting and putting big
wood blocks under first
This is 'Teaching the Sompting Fishermen' in the studio and up on benches
by this stage
Here it is again - also featuring ear defenders, scale model, coffee
mug, brush, carving tools, Sharpie pen...and a bronze head in the
background.....
This
is the wheel on the back of the Flying Predator carving. I had extra drawings to refer to for this, which are leaning
against the wall in the back left corner in a shiny plastic sleeve
This is 'River Life
force' as it is being stained.
The scale drawing can just be seen underneath against the wall, along with
the cement newt sample made during the EPIC Launch event in April 2019
Newt head being finished outdoors in April 2021
And here is the frog
Taking photos sometimes helps see it differently
These following
images show the laborious process of getting the sculptures out of the
studio to finish them off outside in the garden.
Most of the following images are the Flying Predator carving being moved December 20th 2020
The carving was wrapped to prevent abrasion and dirt in transit.
It was so wet that every stage of moving across the garden needed
boards to stop the cart sinking under the weight of the carving
The hole was already filling up with water
The board at the back of the hole stops the carving getting stuck and
breaking the back wall down.
There was no help available at this time and the crane needed to be used at every stage. The crane also
would sink into the grass without boards underneath
It took several days but the sculpture was upright by 23rd December 2020
These two images show the Sompting Fishermen carving being set up for
finishing. This
is how close they get to upright with the crane. The neighbours came and helped by pushing each the last few degrees
to the final upright position.
None of these carvings ever fall
down into the hole by themselves....
The is 'River Life Force' still being finished just before they were all
collected for installation on site. The Sompting Fishermen carving
is under the blue tarpaulin in the background by this time, and I am
reusing its hole in the ground for this last carving.
These two carvings stood together in the garden from December 2020 to the
end of April 2021 when I started to pack them up
Here are more views of the sculptures in my garden
- with stone sculptures in the background
(click the images for enlargements)