Born in London in 1968, I was introduced to stone by Mary Spencer-Watson at the Old Malthouse School in Purbeck. I made my first adult carving at artschool in 1990; I find the process as compelling now as I did then. I am well-versed, by training and experience, in all aspects of carving, be it design, lettering, architectural carving, or sculpture in-the-round. I have completed a wide variety of jobs, large and small, commissioned and speculative, public and private. Working four days a week on commissions, I try to reserve one day a week for drawing and carving my own pieces. I hope working in this way to maintain a freshness in all the work.
I moved into my studio in Monmouth in April 2005. With assistance from the Arts Council of Wales, it was officially opened in 2006.
Education 1987-1995 |
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| 1989–1990 | Foundation Art Course, Manchester Polytechnic |
| 1987–1991 | History of Art Degree, (BA Hons 2:1), Manchester University |
| 1993–1995 | Architectural masonry and carving, Weymouth College. |
| 1994 | ARC carving prize — 1st year winner. Overall1st year prize–winner — all disciplines |
| 1995 | ARC carving prize — overall prize-winner |
| 1994 | Vrsar Sculpture Symposium, Croatia |
| 1995 | Calligraphy evening classes with Mark Brooks at Richard Kindersley’s studio. Ongoing weekly life drawing, Cinderford artspace. |
Training 1996-1999
In 1996 I was apprenticed as a lettercutter to Lida Lopes Cardozo at The Cardozo Kindersley studio in Cambridge. David Kindersley who set up the studio in 1946, had in turn been apprenticed to Eric Gill at Piggott’s in the 1930’s. The studio has achieved world renown since World War II for fine lettercutting.
From 1997 to 1999, as a journeyman, I worked for the sculptor Martin Jennings in Oxford on both lettering and sculptural projects, including the Arctic Convoys Memorial in the crypt of St. Paul’s. With Martin’s support I began taking on my own commissions, setting up my first studio in Miserden in the Cotswolds in 1999.
Examples of work: 1999-2009
- Gravestone for Sydney Nolan, using stone local to his home in Presteigne, Highgate Cemetery.
- Vine Carving, speculative piece bought by the New Art Centre, Roche Court, for their permanent collection.
- Memorial to Hyppolito Jose da Costa, (19th century Brazilian National hero), .Hurley, Berkshire. Commissioned by the Government of Brazil.
- Numerous major public millennium pieces, including at Grove, Oxon; Avening, Gloucestershire and at Minal in Wiltshire.
- Northern Ireland Memorial, National Memorial Arboretum, Derbyshire.
- Rhoos Point ,carved slate pillar at southern-most point of Wales, in association with Landscape Town and Country Limited.
- Hyppolito, green Hornton sculpture, private collection.
- ‘Remember Sheila she believed in Angels’, major sculptural commission for private client.
- Memorial carvings, St.Dunstan’s chapel, Leicester Cathedral.
- Recent memorials using local Forest of Dean Stone, exploring a thoroughly three dimensional approach to carving with lettering.