I love working with new and different materials, and derive great pleasure in combining apparently disparate types to create something new. My working methods are usually additive. For example, I frequently produce an original piece in clay, make a mould around it, and then fill the mould with unusual and unexpected materials. Stonework is subtractive, and so the opportunity to work with stone during a residency at OVADA  in December 2004, (Oxfordshire Visual Arts Development Agency) provided me with new and exciting challenges.

 

 

 

Although a full-fledged urbanite, I have been based in a rural Northamptonshire studio since 2000. I have come to appreciate the countryside, and often incorporate discarded items, such as fence posts or rusted roofing staples, into my work. The OVADA residency allowed me to experiment with local Hornton (aka Wroxton) Stone after I became intrigued with its ‘iron veins.’

 

Not know for its aesthetic qualities, I explored the stone’s subtleties, using a theme of ‘opposites’. This has yielded a body of cohesive works. Contradictions

explored include the physical hardness of the stone, offset in the several pieces by the addition of softer materials, such as fabrics and fibres. Natural light stone colours were with the darker iron veins.  Themes of mass, gravity

and the earth were mixed with those of air, vapours and flight, by the use of feathers, threads and even human hair.

 

While these are somewhat crude and heavy stones, my additions sought to blur the boundaries between delicacy and weight.