A River Runs Through It

The Landscape of a Map

The Map being used on the carving is dated from the 1970’s and interestingly still clearly shows the old sites of the Ballast & Clay Pits, Round Wood as well as the grounds of Cobtree Manor. The inclusion and carving of the map is a way of referencing the past while creating a link with the present modifications to the site at Cobtree.

The surrounding landscape hasn’t changed that much since the days of Maidstone Zoo, and the old map links us directly to that immediate environment. It provides us with a sense of place and it can be used to display features, portrayed in a highly symbolic style. Like all maps they become estimations, and interpretations of a true geographic condition. In particular, I have focused on the linear contours, boundaries and tracks that divide the area with particular emphasis to the site at Cobtree and the River Medway.

Go With The Flow!

Filters and Sunshine

My mantra for the last few weeks has been, “Spend another day on it’, Spend another day on it”, so much so is my desire for accuracy! Unfortunately this is the way it has to be when you are not content with how the overall sculptural form is looking. For me, it has to work from all angles. Strangely, some of the best angles and perspectives are when you are above the sculpture looking down and through it. I will take some photos from above and post them when complete. However, it’s the slight changes needed to a curve or if a line is too straight which makes all the difference. If the lines are not working together it can throw everything out, which makes it unsettling on the eye as well as the adjoining line or curve. The only solution is to get out the pencil and to draw straight onto the sculpture, ready to carve, trim and tighten, pulling everything together. 

With the sculpture having its final hole cut through the bottom section I am delighted how this looks as it still has retained a solidness to its form. It will slowly become wider, with the crescent opening until it emphasises a greater lean, sweeping and twisting around the back of the sculpture.

The next step now is to begin the drawing, transferring and texturing of imagery onto the front bands of stone. These will include the topographical map of the Cobtree area, leaf patterns and water patterns. However, this will have to wait a few weeks, as there is a very important issue of travelling to Italy, in search of sun, sea and stone!!

The Next Apprentice!

I had the pleasure of welcoming a small group of budding artist’s from Barming Primary school to the workshop the other day to have a look at the development of the Cobtree Entrance Sculpture and to try their hand at a bit of stone carving. The children arrived with no hesitation about getting dusty and picking up a hammer and chisel. It was very refreshing to hear the children answer questions about art, their inspirations and even their knowledge of stone and geology was impressive, clearly a reflection of their education from both teachers and parents. Luckily I did not get put on the spot too much regarding answering questions about some of the more abstract works in the studio! It’s a great leveler having your work interpreted by younger eyes; it helps dilute the pretentiousness that once may have been present when conceptualizing your ideas!  With their pockets full of small stones for souvenirs the children were encouraged to make a trip to The Cobtree Park to view, touch and draw the other stone carvings that have been installed along the sculpture trail.

Pierced form

Progress is being made even if it is a little slower than I would like.  The past few days have become disrupted by bad weather and returning phone calls! It has been my colleagues that have been visiting the workshop that have probably noticed a greater difference in the carving and the one thing that I get complemented on is the patience I seem to be displaying on such a large carving. I never really think about how long things take, I just think about doing the best I can with the stone and finding the correct form, irrespective of how long it will take me to get there.

The one thing that I have been keen to get going on and that could really speed up the process was the piercing of the stone. These holes through the stone would really help me determine how narrow each band of stone will need to be.  Its an exciting point in the process, tunneling your way through the rock, making a route through time. I am always reminded by the concepts of Barbara Hepworth’s carvings more than Henry Moore when I think about making holes in sculptures.

‘The hole becomes a way back and a way forward through the sculpture. The hole is also the place occupied by the air we are breathing.  In the space inside, or rather through the sculpture, time is both present and meaningless – and that is time’s true nature, it does and it does not exist’ (Hepworth 1934, cited in Winterson, 1934: 17-25).

Close Up on Patterns

Close Up!

The back of the sculpture is very different to the front of the carving. It is also the area that I didn't resolve as much when working on the model. I always knew I would be slowly feeling my way around the stone, pushing planes back and bringing  areas forward.
Its interesting that the lines that I had drawn on the stone to indicate what needs to be removed at the very start are now the lines I am cutting. However, when you do start to cut and carve you are always considering alternatives with the carving or new possibilities with the form of the sculpture. Could that be made thinner? Can I go deeper? Do I need to change the angle of that surface?  Normally my instinct is right from the start but I am always aware that sometimes you can be too hasty and miss an opportunity to do something different. When you have taken it away there is no putting it back and the material is not very forgiving when you make the wrong decisions!! Now that the lines are cut into the back my emphasis will now be on the twist from the side profiles. The edges are rising up 2.5m so the lines need to be elegant and subtle for the twists to work. There is no more standing on the ground now which is giving me a different perspective on the carving seeing it from above. Preparation is key at the moment on getting the best and most comfortable working positions for the day ahead.

Making the first move!

It seemed like the perfect time to make the first attempt to move the block and get it upright! I felt I had removed as much of the stone as I could at this stage and in order to progress I was going to have to think about the lift. Everything up until this stage has felt very mechanical about my way of working. The blocking out stage is always pretty straight forward and not necessarily that interesting! It does however require tremendous amounts of splitting and cutting, which also requires the motivation and energy of course to keep repeating the process.

However, excitement and trepidation always builds when you know you are going to see the stone standing and be only one of a handful of people who will have seen the back of the stone for the first time. There is still around 2.5 ton in the block and I am aiming to have this reduced to around 2 ton by the time I have worked the back and the sculpture is nearing completion. Until that time there is still a lot more grinding to be done.

Standing Stone!

 Its not going to be long before I have to raise the stone upright. There is only so much I can do with the stone lying flat, I need to improve the angles and curves of the lines before making any further deeper cuts and this can only be achieved with the stone standing. The rubble removed each day appears to be getting less and less as I am just removing chippings as I carve out the centre and the curves around the top. Surprisingly today was recorded as being one of the hottest days of the year so far, but Im not going to use that as an excuse for slow progress!

A Use For Everything

All the largest cuts have been made and the 4 ton slab has shed the last of its heaviest sections. I have tried to block out and remove the stone in a way so that it would still be useful for creating some smaller stone sculptures. After gathering up all the off cuts, I was pretty pleased with what I had ended up with. These lumps of stone may appear to anyone else as worthless, but to me they have the potential for a  series of smaller organic indoor sculptures. I am especially drawn to the stones with an unusual twist and line in their form. These existing shapes will definitely trigger further explorations in the stone, as I will be guided by and carve directly with whats in front of me, allowing the distinct form to determine the abstracted outcome.

Twists and Turns!

The dust doesn't have time to settle at the moment as I'm trying to make up for days of rain and disruptions. Ive taken a little more time on finishing one profile of the sculpture and I am finally ready to start working across the top surface. I have made a small scale model to help me understand where the three folds will meet and loop with each other. Its a slow process but I'm carefully nibbling away at the stone. Even though its a massive slab I am conscious I want to retain as much of the high points until the stone is standing upright. The block is very top heavy at the moment, even after a day of grinding, pitching and punching, the first band of stone is starting to take shape. I am happy that it appears a lot wider now than first imagined. When I move around to the opposite side tomorrow I know I can really start to remove some of the bulk at the top. Already I'm starting to get a feel of the movement that needs to go into the stone as it needs to curve, dip and rise, interlocking what eventually will be three pierced stripes. It may sound strange, but I always get the same feeling when Im thinking about the process of a new carving and it normally happens just before I go to sleep. When I close my eyes I can follow the lines and mentally remove the stone in my mind, in a way this prepares me for how and what I need to be getting on with the following day. Roll on the sunshine!!

Take Five

Rock Drill!

The drill has been repaired and I have invested in a new drill bit, so its back to perforating sections of the stone with lots of holes close to each other in order to get a nice clean slice of the block. So far I have removed around 1 ton of stone by splitting and blocking out the corners and middle sections. Some sections broke away with ease, other areas required a little more force!. This might be down to my very old hand forged ‘Plugs and Feathers’, which I made myself years ago. They have been pretty faithful to me and have successfully split tons of blocks for me, however this hard Irish Limestone has really punished them, leaving them twisted, bent and a lot shorter! The next stage now is to place the wooden template on top of the slab and to mark out the profile lines again before grinding and cutting away what remains of the drill marks.

Sculpture that Rocks!

At least thats what the local KM newspaper thought of the sculpture trail artwork at Cobtree when we had the official open day. It was in fact a pleasant turn out with a variety of friends and people involved on the project from assistants to members of Maidstone Borough Council and The Cobtree Estate Committee. A big 'Thank You' to Joanna Joyce and Richard Corben, Chairman of the Cobtree Charity Trust for all the encouragement and compliments on the day as I attempted to guide visitors around the park and talk about the individual artworks. I was really pleased with how the work was looking and after a week of landscaping, completed by Eva and Joe and an application of new stone sealant the work looked really impressive, even if I do say so myself.  Work hasn't stopped there and it's on with the next sculpture!! so...I look forward to seeing everyone again at the final instalment of the final new sculpture for the visitor's centre when work begins on site in the autumn.

Keep checking in as new posts and updates will be appearing on the blog for the Visitor's centre artwork soon.