Thanks to Roy and Mark for making the effort to take a load of shots for me.

The large blocks of Kilkenny Limestone have finally arrived.  We estimated that each block weighs about 750kg.  It took a tractor, 3 men and some cylindrical fence posts to manoeuvre them into my studio. They are approximately 91×65x50 cm each, not huge by everyone’s standard but the biggest pieces I have ever dealt with

The blocks of Kilkenny have come courtesy of Graeme Mitcheson and many thanks go to him for the help in getting them over to me.

On Form is a biennial sculpture exhibition in Oxfordshire UK which is gaining quite a reputation for its exclusive stone based show at Asthall Manor.  The next exhibition, which will be my first at On Form starts in June 2010.  I will be amongst some of the best UK stone sculptors and this will be a very exciting time for me both as a sculptor and as an admirer of so much talent.

I have some ambitious plans for On Form and my work cut out to get everything done in time for early June. At least two of the larger pieces for outside will be placed on corten plinths that I will be fabricated nearer to the completion time of the sculptures.

The votes are in and model No2 has been selected as the sculpture for Nottingham University Health and Humanities department. I will start sculpting the piece early next year 2010, with the current plan for installation being June/July 2010.

All three virtual maquettes for the Nottingham University commission have been rendered together in this single image to provide an idea of what all three of the pieces could look like sculpted in a white marble such as carrara and in an internal setting.

The difficulty here lies in trying to alter the renderings to closely match a stone material, in particular carrara marble.

This is number 3 of three virtual maquettes for the Nottingham University sculpture commission.

The third maquette focuses on life, growth, protection and support. The five elements to this maquette represents the five digits of the hand. The notion of healing hand and supportive hand came through in the staff feedback. It also hints at growth as each section seems to be sprouting or growing from the previous section. The curvature and segmentation representing a protective exterior to the form. A living evolving piece. As with the other two the piece is rounded and tactile to invite the viewers touch.

Sculpture ref: NUmaq3

This is number 2 of three virtual maquettes for the Nottingham University sculpture commission.

The second maquette focuses on communication, listening, care and support. Again, the sense that the viewer can touch the sculpture is paramount given the tactile element that remains important in our health and humanity. This maquette represents the notion of two forms interacting, that one relies on the other to be. There is implied communication between the two main elements of this piece, that the one is listening to the other. A simple piece that would provide a highly tactile interaction.

Sculpture ref: NUmaq2

This is number 1 of three virtual maquettes for the Nottingham University sculpture commission.

In order to generate the sculptural forms I took all the feedback from the staff who were invited to comment on aspects that affect the way they feel about things in their particular environment. After immersing in the feedback I split the terms used into three or four different groups based on broad notions of meaning. I could then use each set as the basis or foundation for the sculptural form to be developed.

The first maquette focuses on life, fragility, sensitivity and the need for tactile interaction: the importance of touch. It is the indirect notion of the meanings in these words that have fed the development of this intricate and seemingly delicate piece whilst representing the complexity and nuances of life to reveal the fragile nature of existence.

Sculpture ref: NUmaq1

The first stone sculpture in carrara marble for the Flesh and Bone series was started earlier this year. The images were taken on an older mobile phone so the quality is not as good as the current photos being taken of FB2.

This piece was carved through one plane first as is often the case with my methodical approach. I often get caught up in the piece long before I reach what I had set out to do and will consider a different direction. The sculptural sub-forms that I come across in this process are often incorporated into later sculptures. This is all part of the cyclical nature of the artistic process of stone sculpture.

The basic shape of the sculpture through one plane is completed to a good enough degree that I start roughing out the form through a second plane. When working into a V section like the one in this piece the stone offers a lot of resistance and stone removal is much harder, particularly as certain tools will not reach all the way in. Next is to approach the sculpture from a side on perspective where any illusion of the form being anything like the end result disappears and I have to rely more on judgement, constant assessment and readjustment.

On this piece I have a very fixed idea of what I want to achieve and a large part of the artistic development has already happened in the modelling phase before I even started cutting the stone. This is a less direct approach and with a more homogeneous stone like carrara marble I can afford to be much more specific in my initial artwork.