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 !

We’re back with our 2024 courses now and here’s our first one featuring three brand new students and one veteran. First up Robert has definitely done three of our courses but he claims four so we won’t argue with him. Normally he raids my box of huge cogs and makes something ridiculously heavy but this time he went quite subtle and made an angler fish based around a rock he really liked and using various bits from a bedstead and of course, a few cogs. Louise normally works in fashion but wanted to try metal sculpture and it was obvious she had a creative side to her. Using found objects, panel beating and plasma cutting she created an angelic bird figure which demands your attention. First up in my room was James who came with the idea of wanting to make a smallish robot and went home with a much bigger one. What was nice was that he used up lots of scrap pieces that I’d had in my workshop for years and thought would never get used up. With his new found ability to weld he went on to make another robot which was probably the one he thought about making in the first place. Finally, Darren wanted to make some sort of stags head to go on his shed wall. I don’t think he used one new piece of steel, preferring instead to go with the shapes of the junk metal in my workshop, shelf brackets became the antlers and fire extinguishers the head. It actually turned out bigger than he originally intended and was so impressive it’s on display inside his house rather than on his shed now. Thanks as ever to Billy (David Mayne) my good friend and fellow professor on these courses. If you fancy having a go yourself just drop me an email. You don’t need to have any previous experience and will take away a piece of sculpture made by yourself at the end of the course.

Here’s a recent commission I did. Liz lives in Salem Manse and asked me to make a new gate for her being as how her old wooden one was falling apart. I know her son Marc, so between us we came up with the design based on some initial sketches of mine. The original letters I bought for the job were too small so I ended up buying another random bunch of letters the same size and making a head out of them when I ordered some more letters that were the right size if you get what I mean. Anyway, Liz loves her new gate and the delivery people can always find which is her house now.

Well that’s it for our 2023 courses and what a way to go out. Four happy students took home their own pieces they’d didn’t think they were capable of making themselves. First up was Debbie who had a delayed start due to flooded roads but soon caught up making a huge flower for her garden and various other flower shaped pieces from old cogs and some garden tools she’d got from eBay. Dawn had never welded before but just fancied the idea of having a go and made various flower themed test pieces before going on to make the piece she had in mind – a highland cows head made from old tools and chain. Graham works with coffee machines and brought various components along with him from work so he could make a badger, as you do and a fine piece of sculpture it was. Christina came along for the third time, fully inspired after a recent visit to galleries in Tuscany and wanted to make a huge head from plates of steel and copper, she clearly likes a challenge ! I lent her a face mould I had and by the end of the weekend she had a huge head which was almost as big as she was. Thanks as ever to my good friend and fellow course leader Billy (David Mayne), we’re going to sit down very soon with a cup of the finest tea known to man and the leftover biscuits from the course so we can decide on next years dates. If you want to get them in advance just drop me an email and we’ll see you next year.