Studio Update
Quick snaps from the studio!
I decided to take a photo of myself working (very awkward and not comfortable!), I don’t show my face much on social media but I understand people want to see me to connect to my work better. After all, my work is my personality and my personality is shown in my work.
Chatsworth Visit
After a short family holiday to the lake district, my boyfriend and I wanted to stop off in Bakewell and Chatsworth for a visit. I’ve had Chatsworth on my list to visit for a while, so going up north was a perfect excuse to go!
Of course it was gorgeous and awe inspringing. The landscape is beautiful and stately. See some pictures below of my trip!
Quick snap of this warthog, perfect location for the sculpture. Doesn’t the water reflections add so much movement and character to it?!
I think the idea of death is on most of our minds. It crosses mine frequently, how we grieve and how we’d like to be remembered; i think it’s partially on my mind because artists are often only recognised after death (think of all the artist you might now, at least the successful ones). Animals are the same, we can forget to be in the present with them and don’t cherish them once gone. This dog grave was humble, and it caught my eye.
Moss! Lichen! I love love love it! My photo albums are full of it, and it continues o grow still!
Now these I haven’t seen before. The bigger the terracotta pot, the most I want to make it!!
Lake District - a short holiday break
Nature is an important part to my practice, and lots of other artists and designers. These lichen were striking again the dark stone, the natural contrast was amazing. I also loved the ferns, it’s a creeping plant that can grow between anything handling most British weathers.
Ahhh this magical pots! Hidden treasure in my mind, just as are rhubarb pots too… little red ruby’s.
Studio Bits
I’ve been balancing both works and social life recently. May and June were very busy months for me, with family holidays/birthdays/weddings and so much more. Every chance in the studio i could take, I took! I even took a horse sculpture I was working in the car with me to the lake district to work on- 7hrs in the car means clay making time. Every. Hour. Counts.
Sadly my current 2023 favourite wooden modelling tool broke which sucks. I did try gluing it back together but as it gets wet and not all clay is silky soft, it didn’t hold up to the pressure.
I also had lots of dried clay in buckets for a while, clays that I first started out with over a year ago. As stated, i’ve kept these scaps in buckets ready to be recycled; I then covered them in water to soak for the next few days. After, I popped the clay out onto a tea towel or wooden board to dry out before wedging into good shape. The clay is finally transferred into a a bag ready to reuse again. I’ll record a video/reel showing this process, it’s still a bit new to me.
Inspiration from Ranger on a hack. I’ve been photographing the horses a lot, to capture their movements for the sculptures. All those finishing touches on a sculpture come down to the personality; is the horse relaxed, alert, stubborn, annoyed, excited, happy…
Using my 1st pony and figure, these are the measurements for my whole collection. I weighed the 1st sculpture and measured all the body parts, noting them down as I go; these help me keep an eye on the sizes and keep the collection unanimous.
Quickly capturing Ranger lying down. The proportions of the body changes so much when horses lie down; the fat displaces into different locations, limb fold into unusual positions, and the balance of the whole body is important also. As you can see ranger here displays the perfect example of a horse lying down- he looks bigger than he is!