Chalk.Wire.Mud.Pumice.
The materials I sculpt with have the hand of nature in their source and character. I have worked with and been inspired by found ‘wild’ materials, such as twigs, chalk, mud, and old gnarled wires pulled from collapsed fences in hedgerows, shaped by nature and its elemental ways.
Wire.
These sculptures are created from strong old farm wire and thatch wire netting, which already has an inherent character and history from time and weather.
Chalk.
Found freshly dug from badger sets and storm-fallen tree roots, the whitest chalk is 33 million years old. It forms the mysterious shaped landscape of the Wessex ridgeway, with its henges, barrows, forts and valley of Sarsen stones. Looking for this intriguing material is a fine excuse to go wandering and to spend time being with nature.
Mud.
Dorset mud & Chettle straw, hand plastered from farm puddle mud mixed with straw onto thatching wire ‘pig & piglets’. In time all of it was reclaimed by the birds for their nests.
Pumice Stone.
Found while staying on the shores of Lake Taupo in New Zealand. This free material was a perfect find, washed up in abundance onto the shore of this volcanic lake. Super lightweight, I could carry a sack with me and with a pen knife, enjoy my carving nomadically.
