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).