I recently worked at Moldgreen Primary School running a junk sculpture workshop with two classes. The plan was to tie it in with the Traction Man books they’d been reading but as usual it went a bit off piste. There were some good sculptures of characters from the book like the scrubbing brush but we also had dragons, snakes, centipedes and bees etc. One girl made a great unicorn with practically no input from me at all and a boy made a huge peanut man because well, he really likes peanuts. In the background of that picture you can see Buster the dog which one girl made for her cousin who’d just lot their pet dog, which was really sweet. It was a really fun day and everyone made at least one piece of work even though I seemed to take away as much material as I arrived with ?

. . . and we’re back for another run of courses, this being our first one of the year and we got off to a flying start. The weather was kind to us so it wasn’t quite as chilly in the mill as it usually is this time of year and we welcomed four new students onto the course who’d never welded before. I’d met Alison and Nicola in Staithes last year and talked to them about the course so they signed up and along they came with some ideas about what they wanted to make. Alison made a really impressive dragon from lots of pieces of junk metal which will stand in her fireplace at home whereas Nicola wanted to make an owl for her garden and even managed to make a bird table too. Jim was bought his place on the course as a Christmas gift and after initially making a series of garden bugs and flowers went on to make a memorial to place at one of the crashed aeroplane sites that are dotted around the hills here. Frances is well accustomed to making pieces from brass and copper so quite fancied scaling up with the immediacy of working in steel and made a moth, flower, bird and a huge plant support cum weather vane. It was great to be back on with the courses which I couldn’t run without the help and support of fellow sculptor Billy (David Mayne) and everyone was pleased with their efforts as they filled their car boots on the Sunday evening. We’ve got 2 places left for this year – April 5th/6th and June 21st/22nd if you fancy having a go yourself.

I was asked recently if I could make a ten foot tall woman out of nuts. Probably was my answer then I had to really think about how I’d actually do it. I made the figure out of old packaging and loads of gaffer tape then made a fibreglass mould of it with Martin’s help again. Next up it was the task of welding all 2500 nuts in place and hoping the piece wouldn’t actually collapse once I stood it up. Thankfully it didn’t and I managed to deliver the piece on a specially made frame which stuck out the back of my van a bit. Anyway, I know it’s not exactly the normal kind of piece I’d make but they’re good customers who were very pleased with it and I learnt quite a lot from making the piece too.

It doesn’t seem that long ago we started running these courses but somehow we’ve just completed our 50th one. I have to admit I’ve enjoyed them all and it’s partly because I get to run them with my good friend and fellow sculptor Billy (David Mayne) but it’s also seeing the sense of achievement shown by our students, most of whom have never even welded before. So, to celebrate our 50th course, Bill and I both baked a cake which we all scoffed at dinnertime and then carried on working in the afternoon. In my room were Fiona from Cheshire and David who’d driven up from Norfolk. Fiona brought some garden tools with her to make a cartoon style bird for her garden and a tree wall piece based on the yin & yang symbol for her 90 year old Tai Chi teacher. David had some firm ideas based around abstract garden sculpture and even brought a stone base to fix one of them to that he’d made himself. Debbie came for her third course on public transport and brought loads of pieces of metal with her including a motor bike petrol tank which she made a penguin from and then managed to get it home too. Finally Tom came to see us on his second visit and had asked his family what he should make so he had a wish list of various animals and insects which he steadily worked through. As ever it was lovely to see people really proud of what they’d made as they made their way home with their unique pieces of work. We’ll sort out next years dates soon but if you want to go on the waiting list just drop me and email.

I’ve been making quite a few of these medium sized heads recently, I think it’s because they’re a nice size to work on and once they’re sited in someone’s garden they still have presence. I’ve tried different materials in the mould and it’s surprising how different the finished heads look. The first few I tried, I left to go rusty but I’ve galvanised a few too. The most tricky one was the one with horizontal strips of flat bar because it took a lot more steel than I thought to make it stand up and not act like a slinky and start bending over. I never know how they’ll turn out until they come out of the mould, which is part of the fun of making them.

Over the weekend Billy (David Mayne or as I learnt he was called at school -Mayno) ran our 49th course with Craig, Peter and Helen. We only had three students this time as someone dropped out at the last minute but that didn’t matter, in fact it made it easier for us all to get to grips with Craigs sculpture and roll it out on the workshop floor. Craig brought a paper maquette along with him and we toyed with the idea of making a half size version then just thought what the hell, we’ll make the full size one instead. It involved a lot of intricate marking out (he was a retired engineer after all) and laser cutting then after the group effort to get it into the right shape on my workshop floor we put it on a base and left it to rust outside overnight. He went on to make an engineering inspired wall piece on the second day and just managed to fit them in his car at the end of the course. Peter went to school with Billy so after a lot of reminiscing he got to work and made an abstract ‘dog’ and then a tree for his garden. He came along with his wife Helen and she made an abstract garden piece based around a stack of different sized cubes. All three students had never welded before and took home some really lovely pieces of sculpture they’d made themselves, with a bit of our guidance. Thanks as ever to Professor Billy who I run the course with at Sculpture Lounge. We’ve got one course left for this year and it’s got one space free on it, so if you want to have a go just get in touch.

I’ve just come home from doing Staithes Arts Festival and it was good to be back there again. It’s such a nice event where the public can just come along to a free art event that covers the whole village, wander around the houses, look at art, meet the artists and buy their art. I had some great conversations about art but also about so many random subjects with visitors over the weekend. I was in the garden of Roraima House as usual which is a great place for me to exhibit and the weather was kind too. Thanks must go to Jane and John for their hospitality, to the organisers for putting on such a brilliant festival and to the public who came along in their droves. I’ll see you again next year.

Billy (David Mayne) and I ran our 48th sculpture course at the weekend and we sent four happy students home with pieces of work they didn’t know they were capable of making. We only have four students on a course so you get more contact time with us two and we can make sure everything runs smoothly. Most of our students have never welded before so it’s really lovely to see them produce something all by themselves (with a bit of guidance of course !) So, in my room were Mike and William, both were bought places on the course by their other halves. Mike, with his background in IT could render a spider in 3D but wanted to use his hands, get them dirty and make an actual spider. He managed not one but two and a robot, the second spider was so big it wouldn’t fit on his desk and has to live in the garden. William had A level art and wanted to tap back into that creativity and was clearly handy as he made four pieces of work. He came along with no ideas of what he wanted to make and was just happy to let the materials be the inspiration for him. While the other three were getting to grips with the welding he’d already made a deer head than a flowering plant, a pheasant and a duck plant holder. In Billy’s room Helen came along with lots of ideas to make three animals, so she adapted a couple of them to be cut from thick plate which gave her the opportunity to do some plasma cutting. She made a hare from beaten steel sheet welded to a wire framework, a technique which worked really well. Finally Brid came along with her own exhaust pipe wondering if it wasn’t a bit strange to make it into a person – not at all ! With the addition of some bike chain, fire extinguisher parts, steel plate and various other bits of junk metal she created ‘Jezebel’ who now stands in her garden. If you fancy having a go yourself, we’ll release next years dates sometime in October so to get on the waiting list just get in touch.

I ran a kids sculpture workshop at Brighouse Library today and I can’t have been rushed off my feet because I managed to eat my dinner this time. There was a steady stream of kids coming along, coming up with ideas and then making them out of plastic, wire and tape. Kids are lovely to work with because they come up with some great ideas and don’t worry too much if it goes off on a tangent or ends up looking a bit unusual. So, today I had a T rex, an ostrich, batman, buzz lightyear, the solar system, various cats and dogs, a horse and my first ever cloud with a sun and rainbow. Thanks to Evie for helping me and the staff at Brighouse Library for looking after us with endless cups of tea.

At the weekend we ran our latest sculpture course with three new students, none of whom had ever welded before – we would have had four students but Brid had to drop out so she’s coming along next month. Tim wanted to make an animal head to go on his wall and really liked the idea of making it with junk metal so he was definitely in his element rummaging through our stock and seemed to spend the whole weekend grinning. Conrad had done other arts courses before but never welded sculpture and wanted to see how his recurring theme of a fishing boat on it’s side would translate into steel (very nicely) and also found the time to make a huge sunflower for his garden. Mandy travelled down from Cumbria to take part and does stone carving from time to time but like Conrad had never welded before. She had the idea of making a sculpture which depicted three gannets soaring, diving and entering the water as a sort of moving piece for her garden all welded to a piece of 12mm round bar which was harder to bend into the right shape than we thought. On the Sunday evening we loaded the pieces into everyones cars and they drove away to show off what they’d achieved over the weekend. Thanks as always go to my fellow welding professor David Mayne (Billy) who runs the course with me and if you fancy having a go yourself we’ve got two places at the moment on our next course then none until next March.

Last week I did a drop in junk sculpture workshop for kids at the library and it went down really well. I came up with this idea of making quick(ish) sculptures in libraries a while ago – it’s fairly quiet, there’s no real mess and the kids can take their pieces away with them once they’ve finished. I’d no idea how many kids were going to turn up so I took loads of materials and I’m glad I did because we worked for four hours solid making all sorts of weird and wonderful pieces. There were a couple of unicorns, cats, butterflies, ladybirds, a solar system and the first ever Darth Vader made on one of my workshops.

We’ve just finished our 46th course and this time we had two absolute beginners and two repeat customers. In my room were Paul who was bought a place on the course by his wife Sharon for a Christmas present and Chris who I poached from another course at Sculpture Lounge. Neither of them had welded before and thought they’d maybe make something small if they were lucky but Paul made a rotating skull, a lantern and a ladybird and just look how pleased Chris looks with his dragonfly and bird made from junk metal. In Billy’s room were Steve and Steve who’ve been on our courses before so they soon got to grips with making loads of sculpture, so quickly in fact that they could afford to knock off early too. Steve made a  guitar to go in his garden and an allium whilst the other Steve made a weathervane and a spinning garden ornament. I run the courses with my good friend and fellow sculptor David Mayne, we only have four people on a course so you get our undivided attention and room to create whatever you feel capable of making. Our students always surprise themselves with what they’re able to produce over the weekend and then take away with them on the Sunday evening so if you fancy having a go yourself just get in touch and we’ll see you soon !

My solo exhibition at Utopia the unexpected Gallery is finally up and running in Holt, Norfolk. I was asked if I’d like to exhibit at the gallery when the owner saw some of my work at the house of some good customers of mine. Mainly concentrating on birds (admittedly strange ones) but also covering dogs, cats, sheep, frogs and even a monkey I managed to fit everything in my van and squeeze it all into the gallery. One piece sold after I’d only been there 20 minutes, to a couple who just came in to ask where they could buy a lightbulb. It’s going well so far, it seems there is a market for quirky northern cartoon animals down in Norfolk after all.

Over the weekend Professor Billy and I ran another sculpture course and I know we always seem to say this but four complete novices surprised themselves with what they were capable of making. Rosie wanted to make some insects and did mention making some sort of arch if possible and managed to incorporate both into a unique piece of sculpture for her garden made entirely by herself. Bill was bought a place on the course by his wife Doreen and being an ex-engineer wasn’t too phased by the tools and environment so he went on to make a big dragonfly for their garden. Andrew came up from Dorset with his wife Michelle to do the course. He made a fish, an insect from junk metal and then went on to do a figure juggling fish based on a prog rock album cover only he seemed to have seen. Michelle made our first mobile on the courses from brass and steel as well as a small crocodile made from a nutcracker and bits of an old fire extinguisher. Despite the weather being a bit nippy all four had a good time and were pleased with what they’d achieved. I you fancy having a go yourself we’ve got availability on our July, August and September courses. We have four people on a course so you’re guaranteed lots of our expert guidance and will definitely take home something you’ve made yourself at the end of the weekend.

I recently had to make a massive bull for some good customers who wanted it for their garden. The initial idea was for a solid looking bull about 1.2m high but the more I worked on it the more gestural and larger it became. Eventually I ended up just using 10mm round bar which I almost ‘drew’ with in the air if you know what I mean and the bull ended up being more like 2.5m tall. Luckily they were really pleased with it and it actually fitted in my van too – just !