Friday 15 July 2011

 Here is the initial stages of the 'Deer Family' you will see later....a good climbing frame before and after completion for my daughter !
 'Modern Recreation' the first cuts of the mountain bike, I later added a climber, compass and footprints to the sculpture to represent the modern outdoor pursuits and activities taking place on Otley Chevin nowadays.
 'Climber' every early stages.
 This view shows the 'Family' of sculptures developing and working them all in sequence allowed  me to make focussed decisions. They were later sited higher up in the park along a 3km access trail.
Each sculpture was between 4 and 7 feet tall so over time they have become interactive play pieces with members of the younger public.
 ....with some of the trail maps and flyers for both the wood and the stone trails on the Chevin with Richard Marsh (right) the Head Ranger who initiated and supported me with the trails.
 'The Otley Show'   I carved this 'Ram's Head' from start to finish in a day and  is now sited at Temple Newsam House, Leeds.
The Otley Show is the oldest agricultural show in the England and I was proud to be involved....I have already been asked to return next year as hundreds of people said the spectacle of chainsaw carving added a new dimesion to the tradition of the show.
 'Chippendale chair' in progress
 The wood has arrived and my son checking it out !
 The Chevin Forest Park ...where the trail was made and sited.
 Here is a small tractor |I carved out in Pennsylvania in a couple of days during the Ridgeway Rendezvous which is the biggest annual gathering of chainsaw carvers in the world.
 'Cradle'  an earlier piece on the chevin with environmental concerns.
 Initial sketches for the Fossil sculpture.
 'Chariot'  acts as a look out tower for kids and lets people know of the Roman history in yorkshire.
 'Chariot' quick volumetric sketches working out the spacial qualities of the piece.
'A Yorkshire Tale' 2007......a narrative of images carved on site   Otley Chevin, near Leeds.
'Cradle' Pine 6feet tall. I hand carved this sculpture on site and he was intended to represent a protector of the environment.

'Celtic King' Pine 4feet tall.



'Cradle'.... close up showing the colossal hands wrapped around the vulnerable leaf.


'A Yorkshire Tale' 5x3x3 feet Oak. Castles, steps, hiking boots, a ladder, a chain, clouds, a climber, a compass, and a rose.....links with storytelling and the imagination of youth.



'A Yorkshire Tale'...changing with time and nature.








Wednesday 13 July 2011

This is a recent carving representing the glacial Wharfedale valley and is situated at Surprise View, up above Otley. It is a part of the Otley Geology Trail...there are nine stone carvings on a two mile walking trail depicting different geological stages in time.


'Fossil' this is part of the Heritage Time Trail, Chevin Forest Park at Otley in Yorkshire.

'Caveman' or 'Stone Age Steve' representing the 8,000 B.C. hunter with his weapons and flints.....and my daughter looking on !


'Roman Chariot'...also acting as a lookout tower for the distant Almscliff Craggs.


'Deer Family' 6x5x4 feet Oak 2010


Friday 1 July 2011

Here shows the early stages of chainsaw carving when I began the Otley Chevin Heritage Time Trail...you can see here how working in high-relief allows for great spacial depth in the work.


This is a work in progress that I did at Birmingham College of Art (during the second year of my Fine Art degree) that went on to win the competition at the R.S.B.A. in London 1985.

....the removal of the 'milk carton' in the final hour was brave and paid off !


This an intimate small-scale stone carving dealing with family ties. This was a part of my first solo show at the Royal Institute For The Blind in Birmingham back in the '80s.



'Acrobats' Elm 7feet tall. This was a piece I produced in three days as an invited sculptor to the International Polish Sculpture Symposium back in 1997.



Back in 1988 I was asked to produce this.....the worlds largest money-box, for B.B.C. Children In Need....this shows the scale and the early stages carving the soft and brittle material of areated-concrete. I later painted it and in went on to the N.E.C. televised charity event.