Artist’s statement

I am inspired by the beauty and diversity of animals, both wild and domestic and living in the New Forest I am surrounded by plenty of them. I find that by ‘feeling’ the animal into shape it is the perfect way to capture their character, spirit and energy. My work is often influenced by ancient artists, especially those of the Greek and Roman period and how they would have carved their piece out of solid rock. Having an interest in geology, I enjoy the texture and colour of stone, and I find that working in clay enables me to achieve a similar effect to that of these ancient stonemasons.

As my animal sculptures are hand-built and because of their size and complexity I use a coarsely textured stoneware clay. The result is very tactile and each of my animals have very individual characters. I combine block-like shapes with the animal form marking these contrasting surfaces in a way reminiscent of ancient tooling thereby suggesting a historical connection. I work very spontaneously often allowing the animal to remain as if it is partially completed. Alternatively having emerged, it interacts playfully with the shape. I liken this to the process of a creative idea forming within the imagination.

The sculptures are treated with oxides or underglaze colours to accentuate relief, features and muscle tone to bring the animal to life. The finished result is reminiscent of sandstone, tones of reddish brown with highlights of pewter and black. Sometimes I incorporate other types of clay such as porcelain or a white stoneware for tusks and horns to compliment the piece.
In addition to stand-alone sculpture, I produce animal wall art in the form of large stoneware panels. These 3-dimensional reliefs are usually of herds or groups of animals and are composed of a number of individual tiles interlocked together like a giant jigsaw to create friezes of any size for an impressive display when hung on a wall or as individual animal tiles that can be grouped by hanging separately.