School day, Update

A couple of weeks ago I posted about attending my daughters school to teach the class for the day on the subject of sculpture/making from what we see around us.
This lesson was structured to re-enforce the day previously spent with the class at Lulworth cove and Durdle Door, Dorset.
Initially several sculptures that I have collected from different makers, together with various found items from the beech were placed on each table for the children to view. These included, wood, stone, metal of both abstract and figurative styles and the response was, well, refreshing.  The room was buzzing with excitement and I made it clear that the sculptures should be picked up and explored. 
First we discussed sculpture and the different types on the tables. The difference in perception of children compared to adults was very apparent. One of the sculptures I previously made and took along is shown below.  The response to this from adults in forums and family etc has been interesting, some have seen a human form and others just haven't got it, others have said ' ah a way to use up an old cracked bit of wood' followed by a laugh as they walk away.

But when I asked the class of 26 eight year old children what they thought it represented their hands shot up and the first reply was ' an old man' , followed by,  ' a human' and so it continued.  It struck me how much we lose as adults due to our exposure of opinions from others, and how this effects our view our own work and that of others. But mostly how little creativity we hold onto as we get older without keeping an open 'beginners mind'.
We all go through this as we get older, I know I certainly did, and I arrived at the point of being creatively constipated. Peer pressure meant I would only turn items that were round and showing the wood, as I could be confident that this meant I would receive praise and acceptance rather than ridicule. In turn I would only turn pieces that I really did not want to turn. Eventually my brain shut off and I had to go through a great deal of soul searching to break out of my self imposed mould.

Back to the lesson;

The day went well and the enthusiasm and hard work from the children did not wain at all. It also made me realise how skilled the teachers are as by the end of the day I was exhausted. In a demo I may get one or two questions at a time, with the children as soon as one asked every hand would shoot up and I would be flooded by searching questions. They are not frightened to ask and keep on asking.

The children produced sculptures using wire and other materials including items collected from the beech. In all one of the best experiences I have had and it would appear the children and teachers also enjoyed it so much that I have been asked if I would do it again in the future as well as being asked to become in volved in the designing of their new garden area.

Obviously I was not able to take pictures without parental permission for my blog, however the teachers did and some of these can be seen on the official school web site here. Pictures are at the bottom of the page if you scroll down and click on page 7, you will see me grinning at the back in one of them. :-)

Bronze figarative Geisha, again a sample of my collection taken for the students to view.

AAW, San Jose, Update

Just a quick update in that I was very pleased to find that the piece that I was invited to submit to the AAW POP exhibition in San Jose, California, was purchased during the exhibition.

This is a wonderful conclusion to the making of the piece as it which quite a task to get it to America.

The  first piece made and sent did not arrive it in one piece. Being close to the deadline meant I had to make a second. The pressure of working to a time scale which is always fraught with danger when making something that has so much of the maker in it induced further problems.

The result being that the form turned and for a second time textured I was not totally happy with, it was still good all the same and with the piece embodying impermanence I had to accept that I could in no way make an exact replica of the one before, the process of texturing does not lend itself to this so I decided to continue.

Anyway I decided to ring a friend up about the progress of the second piece and my thoughts as it is always good to talk to others as often they can give a unbiased view of the problem.


After the chat I decided that if I was not toally happy I would not submit the piece at all and may be try on another occassion. Not wanting to give up though I decided with the time ticking

Back to the lathe again, but this time more time spent on the form and then into the early hours of the morning texturing and colouring. However before starting I took some time out to sit and think about the situation and the pressure/deadline I was under. I laughed at the process of making a piece which embodied impermenace and Wabi-Sabi in which beauty comes from things that are not perfect.

This for me being why the piece is so special to me, albeit now with a new owner. Not only did the process take all of my self to get through, but the path both I and the piece took during this taxing but enjoyable process became far more that just a piece made to represent the philosophy of impermanace for an exhibition, it in the end embodied it. As such it is to date the most significant and important piece that I have produced.

A few pictures of the third piece being made.

Week away

Last week was spent in Alcudia, Mallorca with my family. It is the second time that we have been to the same destination.

As always I took my camera not only to capture family pictures but also for reference.

Here are a few of the picture that I took while away.

 

'Beyond Containment' Exhibition San Jose, California

Exhibition, San Jose, California. It would certainly be lovely if I was going with my family but alas not this year, I was hoping to be asked to be the bag man for Mark Baker, but apparently I am above the weight limit. :-).

Some time ago I wrote about having been invited to submit a piece for this exhibition at the Gallery of Wood Art Minnesota, USA, (click on the link below) which is then shown again at the AAW Symposium in one of the Exhibitions through-out the 8-10th of June. 

Today being slow off the mark I found the catalogue showing the work included in the exhibition, my piece being one of, and thought it may be of interest to show what is currently being produced around the globe by many of the makers using wood and the lathe as a way of expression.

2013 AAW Symposium is in Tampa Florida, and having relatives there I may well get across to see it.

'Beyond Containment' Exhibition Catalogue. 

Another exhibition worth looking at, also containing beautiful work.

'Walk in the Woods' Exhibition Catalogue 

A few forms and a bit of progression.

Today I have hollowed  a few forms and progressed slightly with a sculpture that was started some time ago.


A few pictures with the first being a 5 inch high rock maple hollow form, textured using a point tool and oiled.

6 inch high Elm hollow form taken to finish wall with the spigot being left in place so the hole can be trued in a few days for the fittig of a lid. The Elm was pretty much dry but I always allow my forms to settle for a few days before adding to them.

8 inch high Rock Maple form, again turned to finish wall with the entrance hole to be finished in a few days or so. 

This sculpture has been sitting on my shelf for months so I decided to work some more on it today. There is a huge amount to do but the general shape is now pretty much there. More pictures will be added as it progresses.

Dorset coast pictures

Here are a few more pictures taken at Lulworth Cove, Dorset.

School Outing

Today was spent with a class from my daughters school at Durdle  Door and Lulworth Cove, Dorset. It is an area that I have visited many times while living in Poole as an escape hole from work, by taking the ferry across from Sandbanks with a ruck sack and supplies for a few days hard walking to recharge the batteries.

Today however was spent rock pooling, looking at rock formations with a class of 26 students and teachers, I am sure that I did not cover such subjects when I was 9, or perhaps I should have paid more attention.

Here are a few pictures from the day showing how privileged I am to live in Dorset.

Dorset Holly Blue a rare butterfly.

What Sundays were meant for

Do you remembers the days when Sunday was a special family day. The corner shop opened until 1200 hrs if we were lucky, but it did not matter as back then we were organised and could work out that we needed to buy all of our weeks shop a day earlier. Television would show quality family entertainment in the afternoon and did not contain violence, swearing etc etc even after 2100hrs.

Now we get up and go to a hypermarket that is as busy on a Sunday as it was for the rest of the week as people panic that some how the world supply of bread will run out before Monday morning.!!!

Well Sunday trading and the lack of time that families interact with each other on this special day is one of my pet hates. So as a family we spend quality time together, carrying out strange rituals such as 'communicating' with each other via old fashioned means through talking, we even move our mouths instead of texing or grunting that dinner is ready, (not that we do text as I won't pay the 10p needed, ok I know I could have 500 free texts if I was on contract, but I have to pay for the contract, so 'they are not free, are they' !!. But I would rather just open the lounge door and speak to my daughters to inform them that dinner is ready.

But I am old fashioned I guess.

So today is my eldest birthday, Bella my youngest of 9yrs instead of buying a present wanted to turn a bowl for her sister. Bella was so excited the night before going into the workshop that she got me up early Sunday morning to go out with her to over see the making of her gift.

So it was up early and into the workshop with Bella turning a small beech bowl. Bella tells me that being a sculptor is her career choice when she gets older and has had me setting up a small demo lathe that I use for her to turn on. So I will be enjoying some more quality time together.

Here are a few pictures of Bella adding colour to grooves that she produced with a point tool.

So after the bowl we went out for our favourite Sunday outing which is to go to Sandbanks apparently the most expensive place on the planet to live, I use to be based in Poole in the Police and one of the most stressful beats I had to undertake was plain clothed foot patrol in the summer due to thefts and pick pockets, so I had to walk along the beech while blending in with the locals, well you have to take the rough with the smooth. !! :-)

Here are some pictures of from Sandbanks the first one is of a multi million pound house, I wouldn't give you tuppence for it, fancy paying all of that money and looking out of your window and seeing hundreds of tourists lying on the beech basking for free outside of your front door. Are these people mad. ?!!!The last time we visited the usual Ferrari's and Lamborghini's were parked up in a row, it is as close as I will ever get to one.

On the beach, combing (Philip you were instrumental in this regular family ritual), picture of what we found will be posted later, some interesting textures etc.

Then there was some chap racing up and down just in a high speed boat. It was quick and must have cost a packet.

Crown Revolution Super Ring video

Quite some time ago I mentioned that I intended to produce several short videos for my YouTube channel  demonstrating the setting up of and using the various cutters that come with the Crown Revolution Hollowing tool.

Well I finally have gotten round to uploading  two videos showing how to set up and use the super ring.

To view a full screen HD version just click on the frame symbol bottom right of the picture.

School Trip

A while ago I was asked if I would attend my daughters school for a day to teach the class about sculpture/making. The lesson will follow a trip to Lulworth Cove which is historically a smugglers cove but is also rich in fossils.

So I am off to the sea side with the teachers and twenty nine 7, 8 and 9 year old students. It will be a good experience and having worked with school classes before I find the enthusiasm refreshing especially the way in which children look at things differently to adults. The older we seem to get the less we actually see when we look. A beach can be seen by some as a mass of bland uninteresting shells, pebbles and sand. But on closer inspection we see a wonderful reference library of shapes, colours and textures, all of which can be used when thinking about sculpture and/or turning.

The prospect of giving a lesson to such a young group is quite daunting as having two young children myself I am aware of the searching questions they can ask, they are often thinking with 'beginners mind' something that can be lost in adulthood.

So we will be collecting items of interest and using these to investigate what has been seen and how it can be used for sculpture and should be a lot of fun.

The picture at the top of the page is one that I have taken of a few pebbles collected the last time I went beach combing, these will be used as my starting place for a sculpture for the lesson.

The picture below is of a form I have turned from Rock Maple and which will be used for a new colouring technique I have been playing around with. More of that later.