On monday I trundled accross to Leicester with a load of stone in the back of the “custard coupe” . It is the 4th time I have run workshops in Rushey Mead School and it has become a slick operation. The school have breeze block workstations set up ready and even a selection of tools (that the head of D and T picked up from a car boot sale!) so that we can get more children carving during the 3 day workshop. 26 children took part this year, working in pairs in short bursts they set about researching, designing and then carving their sculptures. This years group were particularly hard working, many sporting blisters, there was barely a moan until the final afternoon when they were all clearly shattered. Some good stuff was produced, not least by the 2 lads who hacked their way through their block to create a hole in the centre of their “comet” sculpture. Well done to all who took part.
Next week, the “custard coupe tour” continues up to Newcastle where I will be running some workshops around the Harbottle Park area in Byker. These are related to a large sculpture that I will be making there in September. During the workshops, those taking part will be asked to think of a moment during a football match that they have watched or played in. They will then record their expression during this moment, firstly in a sketch but then into a stone which they will carve themselves. Their designs will then be taken away and incorporated into a crowd scene sculpture that will be sited in the park around November time when I have carved it. From the site of the sculpture, Newcastle Uniteds St. James’s Park is clearly visible, hence the football theme. (They are also all football mad round there too!)
Work by the students of Rushey Mead School
It is an exciting project and I am looking forward to seeing the sort of ideas that I can use in the finished piece.
Some dogs really do spend too much time in the bathroom.
I have just returned from a 5 day stint on the Isle of Sheppey where I have been helping my good friend and fellow sculptor Richard Perry to run some stone carving workshops as part of a sculpture project he is working on down there. Having leaped out of bed at 10 to 4 on Saturday night/Sunday morning, I trundled down in my yellow truck, affectionately known as the “custard coupe”, to join Richard and set up for the first of 2 workshops on a housing estate in Rushenden on the Island. The workshops were well attended and hugely productive so a good day was had. We continued running daily workshops, gradually getting to know some of the characters on the estate, many returned on a number of occasions to do more stone carving or quite often just for a chat. Once I had familiarised myself with the orange dogs that are native to Sheppey and grown accustomed to Richard’s erratic driving around the Island (and round and round Herne Bay Travelodge) a thoroughly enjoyable time was had. Richard encouraged the residents of the estate to create their own personally designed fish. They then carved them into small slabs of stone which will create a path near his larger sculpture later this year. Richard is quite useful with a chisel and his work can be seen at www.richardperrysculpture.com – just don’t ask him directions to hotels in Kent !
My relief carved fish for Richard's path
I am pleased to say that I will be spending a few days in Rushey Mead School in Leicester in July running a stone carving workshop. It will be the 4th time that I have worked with the school although I missed out last year so I am glad to be going back. I will be teaching the students about stone carving who will then make sculptures that will be sited permanently in the school. The kids will work in pairs, in half hourly bursts. Because they have not chiseled before, it can be tiring so working in short stints increases productivity and helps to keep their focus. I really enjoy running workshops like these, it is great to get out of the workshop and have a good laugh with the kids (and staff who often do more chiseling than their students!). I love their enthusiasm and the watching the pride they take in creating their first stone sculptures. I run many workshops in schools and they can range from group sessions like this one where a series of artworks are made, through to the creation of a single, larger, permanent artwork for the school. A few years ago I made a piece for Countesthorpe Community College near Leicester with the help of over 50 children. They each carved a face into a sandstone wall, the result was a kind of crowd scene with dozens of faces, each individually carved with a range of expressions. There are more details about my workshops for schools on my website at www.chisel-it.co.uk
Stoney faced.
