Dorset Sculpture

A Literary Sculptor, Anon

2011-12-08T09:49:00.004Z

Literally sculpture by a he or a she. At the link below you will find the whole story; quite an interesting way to get your message across!

http://community.thisiscentralstation.com/_Mysterious-paper-sculptures/blog/4991767/126249.html

Jeremy Clarkson

2011-12-06T13:59:00.001Z

The star of that car show on Dave TV, you know the arrogant one that claims he was expelled at school and now has upset teachers again by recommending they be shot after taking a day off work to save their solid gold pensions, well.........

My estimation of him rose a year or so ago when I saw a documentary about the Cockleshell heroes which he presented. Now it is dashed, not because of his badly phrased comment about civil service strikers but his very ignorant opinions on the disbanding of rescue helicopters.

I plan a trip to Guernsey in my sailing boat next year to deliver a sculpture, I invite him to crew for me, let's see if he is the man he pretends to be.

PS I thought he was older than me! ('suppose he can't help that!)

Young Sculptor

2011-11-23T21:25:00.002Z

Occasionally I get sculptors asking for links or opinions and as a general rule I think twice about promoting or helping a competitor. I usually feel guilty, especially if they are good and then relent.

Now here is Daniel and I think he is very good. He has a mystique about him which is intriguing. I have put two photos of him on my blog about Sculptors' and other artists studios. See here http://studioviews.blogspot.com/ and a link to his website.

Four Legged Ghosts

2011-09-19T13:47:00.004+01:00

I still hear them calling me when I let the dog out morning noon and night, slightly bazaar as I don’t believe in ghosts, but it is strange. My little spotted pony was 35 years old last month and sadly failed to regain condition this summer. The Shetland was deaf and laminitic, he too was of great age; in his late thirties. I miss them dreadfully but the winter is not so far away and I am going to light a fire tonight as it is cold. The field is very empty without my four legged friends or should I say family as we have had them for more than twenty years.

Charlie, or Charlotte, the Appaloosa, came from the circus; she was a wonderful child’s pony, did not suffer fools gladly, was a great jumper and made sorties for charity, pony club and pony camps. She also kept Smokie under control.

He was a dream, pulled wheels with great enthusiasm, carried children through fords, old tanks out of the rough (Eddy Page please note and report back!), a gentle softy with characteristic Shetland mischief which Thelwell illustrated so well. He was an expert escaper and as good as any Rabbit at avoiding capture but always knew when to give up! RIP

St O's Bay Olympic Sailing 2012

2011-09-17T21:27:00.003+01:00

A rather special photo, looking West towards Start Point with Weymouth visible in the picture. The olympic sailing will take place here next year, quiet now and nodoubt quiet again afterwards!

A Country house birthday party

2011-09-14T13:13:00.003+01:00

I think I must be very lucky to be invited to amazing parties occasionally. House parties still happen as I was to experience recently. Held in one of England’s most beautiful country houses my host, the birthday boy had three things in common with Mr Toad, a generous spirit, a kind heart and a want to sing at his birthday party!

We played tennis, we played croquet, and there were quizzes, dancing, a long walk along the hills by the sea and of course an abundance of food and wine. But of singing we let rip, raised the roof and wow what fun. Thank you David and family; Happy 60^th.

PS I sailed there, and got storm bound again.

Purbeck Sculptors at Leeson House

2011-09-14T11:23:00.030+01:00

I was recently invited to join Purbeck Sculptors a group based in Dorset and our first Exhibition was held in Leeson House over looking the Western end of the Ise of Wight. There were literally hundreds of works to see, here are just a few. It was well attended, with a couple of thousand visitors over the week.

"Ten Purbeck Sculptors, nine invited sculptors, five selected sculptors, all with one aim in common;
a unique collaboration, exclusively showcasing an eclectic mix of contemporary sculpture, from some of the South's most accomplished three-dimensional artists, working in a diverse variety of mediums and styles, from willow to wire, and from the classical to the contentious!

Featuring work from Andrew Thomas, Marzia Colonna ARBS, Jonathan Sells, Greta Berlin, Robert Mileham AFAS, Vivien Mallock ARBS, Scott Taylor, Richard Atkinson-Willes, Moira Purver ASWA, Emma Pickering, Martin Debenham, Carlotta Barrow, Chris Burke, Robin Beuscher, Sue Lansbury, Kim Creswell, Jo Burchell, and Jamie Hart. It was a new experience for Purbeck, as an exhibition of this kind has never previously been organised in this area before".

Should you wish to be shocked then there was always Gallery 4!

Visit the website for more details. http://purbecksculptors.co.uk/

Dr James Fox

2011-08-12T16:33:00.003+01:00

If you do a programme on British Masters (Art) for Television and you take the nettle in your hand, you are bound to get stung. So here’s another one from me Dr James. Like all the great and good you stick your neck out.

On BBC 4 recently, Dr James actually said that the Art of Alma Tadema was bad Art. He inferred that what was to come in 1910 by others was good Art and everything before it was bad. A slight over simplification but that was the message.

It is my view that it can be badly painted or sculpted; subject matter be questioned; the message it sends is wrong; and for a host of reasons express an opinion that one dislikes it; but to say it is bad art must infer that you have the correct view on what art is. Oh dear….

The bad one he chose as illustration was this one by the way. I don’t like it but would never dare say it was bad, that would be arrogant Dr Fox.

(and anyway, wasn't Alma T Dutch?)

Old Childrens book

2011-08-12T14:51:00.004+01:00

An Alphabet of Magic
by Eleanor Farjeon

Illustrated by Margaret W Tarrant

published by The Medici Society.

Studios

2011-07-27T16:23:00.003+01:00

There is a talented lady sculptor on my Studios blog who is worth a visit.

Studio Bronze Casting

2011-07-19T11:09:00.009+01:00

Where my source for this comes from I can't remember but I believe the more valuable small bronze animals produce by The French Animaliers of the 19 century were actually caste by the sculptor in their studios. Later of course foundries did the work and thousands of copies followed.

I started in my studio casting in resin bronze my own work. Had I been brave and had some guidance then the romantic notion of casting my own bronze in my studio need not have been put aside as impractical.

Now this may be a thing of the past, there is a book on how to do it!

Another Frenchman on the other side of the World has put things to right. From my limited knowledge of bronze casting, this book looks fantastic. Even I can understand it. (My recommendation however is in good faith and if things go wrong please do not blame me!) Having said that thank you Olivier, this is just what is needed.

His web address is here

http://www.bodyscape.net.nz/bronze-casting-tutorial.htm

Salcombe and Dartmouth

2011-07-16T11:04:00.014+01:00

Much of June was spent in Devon, here are some pictures.

Cronin's Pub

2011-05-16T10:21:00.003+01:00

Last summer I was asked to help crew a beautiful yacht back from Ireland. As with all trips I go on there were very funny stories to tell afterwards, but let me start with a real highlight

- "Cronin's Pub".

Apart from the loan of some bedding which was over and above the expect kindness of any establishment, the food was noteworthy. In fact that would be the understatement of 2010. Albeit a short menu it was impressive in its diversity and excellence. I was not expecting anything quite like it in a fine Victorian Irish public house. Good honest food yes but not at this level. Steaks, sea food, it was there and never to be forgotten.

Crosshaven, County Cork, Ireland

www.croninsirishpub.com

if that website doesn't work try cronbar@eircom.net

Ps when leaving I spotted outside that it had won several awards for food in previous years, well deserved.

Spaniels

2011-04-29T20:54:00.012+01:00

What music I could write if I had you with me always. (Elgar)

The Painting is by Fragonard and can be seen in the Wallace Collection in London

(Quote below slightly amended.)

A young girl, carves her initial on the bark of a tree, while observed by her pet spaniel, the symbol of her fidelity to her love. The theme reflects the increasing sensibilité of the second half of the eighteenth century. Its scale and careful technique also show Fragonard varying his style to echo the contemporary taste for the ‘little masters’ of seventeenth-century Holland, although he continued to animate such stylistic references with his own inimitable theatrical lighting, delicate draughtsmanship and calligraphic traceries of hair and foliage.

For 100swallows

2011-04-25T12:28:00.002+01:00

This time it is life size, with this sort of "look" but in bronze!

Post Script amd.

2011-04-25T11:57:00.006+01:00

I spent that night on board, it was a very still, beautiful moon, no wind, and the tide was barely noticable; all fortunate because I had to go ashore rather a lot as the dog needed to! The result of this was my last post! Thought you should see the funny side!

Poem

2011-04-22T10:36:00.011+01:00

Of course you only die once. If you are lucky it's quick or happens in your sleep.

If it's you that is left, then why not dig yourself out from the deepest loneliness?

Find a new life of laughter and joy; it will take time and perseverance.

Better to have loved once than never loved at all (so they say).

Except of course you miss it more: but not to be trifled with because it hurts the more.

Better not to want the unobtainable, though your sights are high!

The boat rocks,

The dog barks,

The "bell" doesn't ring.

So, where next my darling?

RSRM 2011 (for Good Friday)

Albert Toft

2011-04-10T10:48:00.004+01:00

Sorry, poor photo of a "Toft" in the V and A

Beware the South West

2011-04-08T15:26:00.006+01:00

We have some of the most dangerous tidal waters in the world, some of the sharpest rocks, the most unpredictable weather and our history and shore line is littered with wrecked ships to prove it. Please stay away from Dorset, Devon and Cornwall as there is yet another hazard this year; me!

My Studio reality

2011-04-06T09:22:00.005+01:00

This is how people imagine I spend my working time in the studio. No such luck. Just to spoil a few myths as so many ask! This delightful work is for sale see Sothebys.

New Life

2011-04-04T20:41:00.006+01:00

I am lucky now, I have a brilliant commission. She is a mystic, Arthurian Princess in an exquisite dress. Her gaze will be a happy one, gazing into the future her head to one side. She can see the good times ahead and believes what she sees. I shall enjoy creating her passions and her joy. I too believe in her future and will make it happen. Life size and the first in a beautiful garden for two centuries, my fingers are waking like the life all around me busy as spring arrives again. Like the sleeping beauty (!) I too am coming alive again.

Cevinia

2011-03-12T16:58:00.005Z

I've been skiing! Here firmly with my bottom on the snow! Here under the Matterhorn!

Rodin and the thick ankles

2011-03-12T16:36:00.002Z

A couple of years ago I went to dinner with one of my clients. It must be said that it was a fascinating evening and filled with happy memories, one of which I must share with you.

I had just visited the Rodin Exhibition in the Royal Academy in London and noticed yet again that Continentals seem to have think ankles. Now this must be a matter of opinion and I have bored the living daylights out of my readers on the subject of thick legs in horses etc etc, but in this I was again holding forth after the consumption of one or two glasses of fine claret. To my right was a charming gentleman, a retired successful engineer who had helped me erect my work earlier in the day. After listening to my strong protestations towards Rodin’s ankles he very gently put me at ease. Lifting his trousers to expose his ankles he inform me and the keenly listening other dinner guests that he was half Italian, his great uncle had been Rodin’s model and did I think he had thick ankles!

The Ashmolean Oxford

2011-03-12T15:51:00.008Z

This the oldest of Museums has had a revamp. Highly recommended. Here is a small taste of it.

Mmmm

2011-01-26T13:55:00.005Z

Sometimes one meets someone special and one just has to get instep! (Juno is on the left with the red collar!)

Short respite

2010-12-19T14:21:00.005Z

Remember we had a few days break from the very cold? Here is beautiful Devon.

Festive Flutes

2010-12-18T12:37:00.002Z

A Christmas Cracker it was indeed. I was lucky enough to be invited to a concert given by four beautiful Flautists. The skill and ingenuity of their music was of the highest standard. The variety of their repertoire was refreshing and the spirit and fortitude in freezing conditions was admirable. Musically very sophisticated it nevertheless proved a wonderful not to be missed evening of delight. Four clever gifted girls.
www.festiveflutes.co.uk

Frosty Dorset

2010-12-07T12:58:00.004Z

December Song Thrush

2010-12-02T14:26:00.002Z

Just had to post this little chap up. We do not see them as often as we would wish.

Summer Remembered

2010-11-26T15:54:00.003Z

Neither of these were taken in November! It is good to remember summer. On holiday in Devon 1983, 2 of 4!

Juliet's Lantern

2010-08-21T15:23:00.002+01:00

The kids were clever; they found a lantern which, when lit, rises up with air currents and wind giving a poignant symbolic focus to someone moving on. In the true spirit of Juliet it was of course light-hearted, shrieks of giggles and laughter, as it spun in every conceivable direction, gathering speed and eventually height, to leave us all so hopelessly without her. Saint Ossies’s bay 2009.

Congestion

2010-07-24T15:14:00.003+01:00

Entrance to Poole harbour can be quite exciting in summer!

Snaps

2010-07-21T10:33:00.008+01:00

Friends and relations

Old Harry Rocks near Poole in Dorset.

Crosshaven to Portland

2010-07-14T23:06:00.004+01:00

A friend asked me to help him crew his yacht back from Ireland. Wow it turned out to be a trip “above expectations”! Crosshaven was a delightful place and the Cronin pub was, well it deserves a post of it’s own……to follow!

So the wind was just right force 4 SW. Sea state wonderful for “fairground fans”, significant waves turning into big Atlantic rollers; just wonderful…..24 hours of tummy churning regurgitating sea water slowly rising and falling, kicking and swishing every morsel in the lower stomach like a washing machine in the slow cycle! I found it exhilarating, my companions less so! 24 hours on we reached Landsend and the others were feeling better so I got some rest; not for long……rudely awakened, I was informed that my lifelong dream to sail with dolphins had arrived! “Robert, Robert dolphins”! Up like a shot, life jacket abandoned I sat for an hour and twenty minutes on the bow and, like Toad on seeing the motorcar for the first time, with a mixture of tears and wonder whispered “Oh my, oh my…poop..poop”. The camera clicked and clicked but by the time I had started to hold it still it let me down and failed to click.

This was nevertheless a very important moment. There are great moments in a life some good some bad and some of great significance. This was a moment of reflection; wild animals, for whatever reason, within touching distance, effortlessly swimming along with me, turning their tummies toward me as if to be tickled; singing a strange song which I had heard the night before but not realised they were there. I called to them and they rose repeatedly out of the water with a clap on the waves in response. No clichéd word could possibly express the wonder I felt…………no, ”not little things” you might say, just a very special, once in a lifetime (perhaps!) moment.

I recommend the Helford River, Dartford and the inside passage round Portland. Great trip, thanks Jon.

Two years in the making

2010-07-03T23:04:00.003+01:00

"The Music Lesson"

Daphnis, the boy, is teaching Chloe to play the pan pipes. Daphnis, being very shy about showing too much affection in case he is rejected, snatches the pipe back to kiss them where her lips have been. She pinches him above the hip (as in the Laocoon) her fingers pressing into his skin (as Bernini's Pluto and Proserpina), their knees touch and, no doubt both hearts "flutter", the real tummy butterfly effect! The dog looks on with suspicion and some jealous protectiveness!

I plan to try once more to caste this extremely difficult project. 147 piece plaster mould. I have chosen to use perhaps the most exquisite material of all. It is between porceiline and bone china but better than both and so a street above Marble. I have used it before with a portrait bust which worked well. Helped by the Master of all potters in England we will try one more time in a week or two. see here, a year ago!

Shocks from the River Piddle

2010-04-03T10:01:00.001+01:00

About three weeks ago “puppy” and I were walking along the River Piddle with mind in neutral and spotted a Sea Trout (possibly a Salmon) the size of my leg. He waggled off at some speed upstream unimpressed by our appearance. Well that is one for the book I thought in March. A few days later we got another surprise. Crossing a small foot bridge, we saw it again, at least we thought at first; it rose to the surface, a long black “snakes head” appeared and kept on coming, launching itself vertically like a child’s toy rocket into the sky and flew off with puppy in hot pursuit across the water meadows some way behind. This was an adult cormorant in a very small river. A week later I discovered another surprise by the river bank. I believe the leftovers of an Otter’s breakfast. (see picture of the River here

http://www.dorsetphotos.co.uk/pictures/368,places,52,River-Piddle,4.html )

Spring is at last showing its signs, very late and it is fun to see my puppy “pointing” at bumble bees and toads in the garden. She is six months old and all she has seen so far in her short life is a long and cold winter.

Seven Long Tailed Tits

2010-02-25T21:01:00.004Z

The gang turned up!

Last Week's Trip

2010-02-25T17:58:00.016Z

Yes him again, terrible face!

Tor Bay

I was sorry to leave Brixham, a small but very important Port in Devon. Still supporting a fishing fleet, a Life Boat Station, Coast Guard, Pilots and a plethora of tourist, educational and leisure activities it is a delightful place to visit and I have become very attached to it. It also had some suprisingly good restaurants.

Here are some pictures of Paul, who helped me sail back to Dorset.

RNLI

2010-02-09T10:12:00.005Z

Raising money to keep

The Life Boats "afloat". Some of the bravest guys around. You would be glad to see them if......

Ground Breaking Children's Exhibition for all at The Wallace Collection

2010-02-04T15:22:00.004Z

Keeping going

2010-01-31T17:47:00.003Z

New friends have arrived on the scene to keep me company and well occupied.

Brittany, La France

2010-01-31T17:03:00.016Z

One of the brighter moments in the last few months was my trip to Brittany, staying with a cousin and then sailing with some friends off the coast out of the Vilaine from La Roche Bernard.

I was there when the old boats had their annual gathering and here is a photo record of the day.

Thank you Messieurs Dames for your hospitality.

I also discovered a rather interesting restaurant bar cum theatre called the Sarah Bernard. Sarah was of course a famous French actress who was quite an accomplished sculptress too.

I can recommend this delightful French Port for a fasinating holiday. September was quiet and warm.

Ice Bear

2009-12-06T10:24:00.002Z

Here is a nice link to what Mark is up to. Let's hope people listen, agree and do something about it.

http://www.greendiary.com/entry/ice-bear-sculpture-in-copenhagen-shows-sinister-face-of-global-warming/

Lost

2009-07-21T09:42:00.002+01:00

Oh when will it all be well again? When will the storm break, the thunder and lightening turn to a cleansing shower of rain? Instead I lie in her hammock in the garden she created from chaos. Oh yes it rains on me there and on her not half a mile away. I can move to our bed of thirty years, warm and dry but alone.

What is it in our evolution, genes and nurture that makes us hurt so? They say elephants grieve too, why? What is the point? What advantage is there in this catastrophic emotion we feel? Will I ever accept the terrible waste of this precious precious being I love so much?

They complained that they needed a second van to bring the flowers to the church. A tent at the west door doubled the congregation to three hundred. The postman thought my daughters were both getting married. The Mrs Bennet in her would have giggled at that! How can I reply to all those people? What can they do to bring her back?

I was lucky. Thirty years of marriage to a wondergirl, full of fun, full of life, she prodding me on and kept us all going. What ever life threw at us we were together keeping each other from faltering. Now it’s different, I am a little boy again who’s lost his mother in the crowd, who can’t remember what he is doing or where he is going. Decisions over the tiniest things are impossible to make and friends can’t find the words, just don’t know what to say; so we joke and avoid the subject and the songs of ABBA ring in my head and moths fly dangerously fast around our bedroom and tears come and go and the wound gets bigger and bigger and it hurts more and more and I worry about the children, are they safe, how will they ever come to terms with this?

I want a grandfather clock like she did, one that ticks like she did, and chimes like she did, to keep me on my toes like she did, which needs winding up like she did and needs to be cherished like she was.

Alfred Boucher Sculpture

2009-06-20T14:33:00.005+01:00

Musee des Beaux Arts in Pau,

http://www.pau.fr/le_reve/culture/20051008_142051

seems to be a place that needs visiting soon especially as it has, according to Sotheby’s, the original marble of this beautiful work by Alfred Boucher French (1850-1934). I have mentioned him before and added this to my Top 1000 Sculptures of all time. (and also found here )

Patina Day

2009-06-19T12:16:00.003+01:00

Getting there! see here too http://saved-from-the-bin.blogspot.com/

Garden Open Days Dorset and Art and Sculpture Trail

2009-06-10T10:03:00.009+01:00

Have a look at that little poster, the colourful one and you will know what this is about!
Martin Debenham, under the Mulberry tree (we are in Debenham country)!
A Robert Mileham, installed here for just one day!
Other side!
Bored resident of the River Piddle"
Family feeding; note the different head colour of the teenage spotted woodpecker on the right.

Top new novel of the year, the best in a good bunch, Ali Shaw’s The Girl with glass feet.

2009-06-03T16:21:00.002+01:00

I have just read a great new book as a reward for six months of particularly hard graft at my sculpture.

If one is to review a good novel, I suggest the following;

1. You can’t put the book down.

2. It changed you for the better.

3. It hit an emotional nerve or two as all art should do.

4. You are very glad you read it.

Ali Shaw’s first novel would get 100% from me if it were not for the No.3 above which was seriously over the top, but then I have a soft heart and it floored me completely- so he gets an A+ as well.

In essence it is a complex, tempestuous love story, encompassing a wide variety of human family issues without needing to resort to sensational taboos.

Ali Shaw’s style of writing is quietly contemporary and you barely notice it. His fine descriptive passages do not bore the pants off a hard pressed dyslexic like me; I did not need to skip a word.

I might advise my own to avoid St Hauda’s Land but not this book. Read it first, then see the film; oh yes it will make a great film, set in beautiful surroundings by the sea and creepy bogs in the snow, one or two slightly weird characters; it is also a “special effects godsend”. The atmosphere fluctuates dramatically and will give the greatest screenwriter fantastic scope. At times exciting, there really is no time to waste with-in this cracking good story.

Roll on "book two" Ali, can’t wait. I can see a serious cult following here.

www.atlantic-books.co.uk

ISBN 9781843549185

Export & airside trade paperback ISBN 9781843549192