We’ve just had to sneak another course in due to our inexplicable popularity and this one was a weekday one for a change.  We had father and son, Dave and Jake in my room and good friends Alex and Cassie in Billy’s room. Dave wanted to make a big dragonfly to sit at the side of his pond so once he’d mastered the welding he chose a selection of junk pieces to make it from and got to work. Jake had welded before, being an engineer so he collected all the bits from my scrap pile he thought were frog like and a few bits he brought in too then set about methodically fixing them together. Alex being a multi-media and glass artist knew exactly what she wanted to make – an organic frame to hold a stained glass window panel with a bird bursting through it! I don’t think she stopped working for more than ten minutes over the whole two days. Finally, Cassie had seen some abstract relief blocks in an exhibition and wanted to make her own version of them for her garden. This seemed to involve finding the heaviest cogs and other pieces of steel we had and welding them all together, making it somewhat heavy to move. It was definitely a unique piece of garden sculpture and that’s what we liked about it. In fact all four pieces were great to see evolve from initial idea through to finished piece over the two days. I run the courses with Billy (David Mayne) from our workshops at Sculpture Lounge in Holmbridge. If you fancy having a go we’ve got just 3 places left for this year so do get in touch asap.

After having quite a big feature in the Yorkshire Post magazine I was contacted by a school in Harrogate to run a sculpture workshop for their year 5 classes. They’d already looked at the work of Barbara Hepworth and carved pieces of soap and the second idea was to look at Anthony Gormley’s Angel of the North. As a result of the article they thought it would be good to have the session run by an actual sculptor which is where I came in. After a quick presentation to explain who I was and what I did I showed the pupils how to work with the wire to make their own version of the sculpture. It was a nicely organised workshop with some great kids who came up with some really varied pieces of sculpture.

After taking the winter off, we’re back with our regular monthly metal sculpture courses. David Mayne (Billy) and I run the courses at Sculpture Lounge in our workshops, with a maximum of 4 students so you get use of your own welder and more than your fair share of our guidance and supervision. It was just about warm enough to run course number 61, but with extra layers and sitting round the fire at dinnertime we managed. David lives locally and just fancied having a go at something different to his usual woodworking so he made a small figure and a wall piece made from cutlery. Andy was bought a place on the course by his wife and he came armed with an image he’d found which he really wanted to turn into a garden sculpture. Julian, a keen cyclist came armed with loads of bike bits, wanting to make a hedgehog and a vase which he easily managed. Finally we had Mike who’d never welded before but came armed with loads of stainless steel scrap which he thought would make a great centrepiece for his garden. Needless to say he didn’t quite finish but being a mate of Billys he can come back next week. Most of the courses are fully booked for the whole year despite slotting an extra couple of courses in but we do have 3 places left so if you fancy having a go get in touch asap.

I’ve just done my annual visit to Moldgreen Primary School to run a junk sculpture workshop with their Year 2 classes. After an introduction about myself and what kind of sculptures I normally make we got cracking with the waste materials creating lots of weird and wonderful characters. There was some great independent working going on like the aeroplane which was made with no input from me whatsoever (apart from suggesting the windows) and the happy red dog too. We managed to use about 20 metres of wire and 15 rolls of tape but at least everyone was happy and managed to complete a piece of work which they took home at the end of the day.

I can’t quite believe we’ve run 60 metal sculpture courses at Sculpture Lounge but we must have and we both baked a cake to celebrate. Billy (David Mayne) who I run the courses with produced a lovely ginger and marmalade cake on the Saturday and I came in with a tray baked apple one on the Sunday. Now we’ve got the baking out of the way let’s talk students. We had our usual four students and in my room was Chris, returning for a second time aiming high in the ambition stakes who made a gate. Last time it was a cat so to Chris it was a logical next step to come armed with box section steel and gate furniture the next time and make a 1.8 metre gate. He brought his friend John with him, who really wanted to make a cannon for his garden. It’s our first cannon in nearly eight years of running these courses and we’re nearly as proud as John was. In Billy’s room across the corridor was John’s wife Sue who came with plans to make a hedgehog which she easily accomplished and went on to make a woodland scene and a comical bird from her old broken coffee pot. Also in Billy’s was Gwen who had been on quite a few ceramics courses at Sculpture Lounge but was tempted to try her hand at welding. With a real flair for equestrian art she quickly did an amazing drawing on a piece of wood and then proceeded to turn it into a three dimensional piece using bent wire. All four students had a great time and threatened to come back again to next year. Speaking of which, this was our last course of the year so we’ll be working out next year’s dates soon. So, if you want to get those dates before we put them out on general release just drop me an email. Thanks as ever go to Professor Billy who I run the courses with, we’re taking a break now but will be back doing courses next March.

Course number 59 completed and the last but one of the year and thanks as ever to Professor Billy aka David Mayne who runs the courses with me. It was a fairly easy going one to be honest, we had three returning students and a new one who is very creative anyway so everyone seemed to know what they were doing pretty much. First up in my room was Ilona who’d travelled down from Cumbria and wanted to make some kind of diorama looking piece which she could slot one of her stained glass panels into the back of. Once she’d mastered plasma cutting and we’d found an old metal trunk to house everything in she was away. I also had Craig, an ex aerospace engineer who first came on our course last year and brought a scale maquette made from cardboard based on turbine blades which he immediately set about scaling up and welding together. In Billy’s room were Steven and Steve who’ve both been numerous times before so they set about working through the junk materials we had in stock and made owls, butterflies, flowers and obelisks. They’d probably have made more pieces between them if it hadn’t been for the fact that Steven had to go early for a concert and Steve kept welding things in the wrong place and had to keep altering them. We’ve got one more course for this year then we’ll look at sorting next year’s dates out. If you want to receive them before they go on general release just drop me an email.

I’ve just got back from doing Staithes Arts Festival again and it’s been great. The weather was kind to us which helped bring the public out to have a look at all the artwork on display and have a look round all the different houses too. I had a feeling it would be a good event when I sold a piece in the first ten minutes. It was lovely to see lots of familiar faces again and have so many random chats about all sorts of stuff. Packing less pieces at the end of the event  than I brought with me is. always satisfying and I even dropped a vulture off on my way home. Thanks as always must go to the organisers of such a lovely event for all their hard work, it really does bring out the best in the village. See you next year !

Boom and there goes another course, two more left for this year then we’ll take a break while it’s chilly in the mill and start again next March when it’s hopefully a bit warmer. It goes without saying – a big thank you to my good friend and fellow host Billy aka David Mayne who I run the courses with and if you want next year’s dates before they get generally released just drop me and email. So, back to course number 58 and Billy had Greg and Ali in his room across the corridor. Greg had previously bought work from Billy and so had decided to have a go himself, after mastering the welding he was on a roll and made six pieces of work, admittedly some of them were quite small but it might just be a course record. Ali was bought a place on the course as a Christmas present and brought a collection of victorian bottles with her. She made a flower inspired display stand for them to go on in her garden. In my room were good friends Jane and Hilary who’d travelled up from near Banbury. I’d mentioned the courses to Hilary when I met her at Staithes last year so she decided to see wether it was actually possible to make a piece in a weekend. Jane got to grips with the welding and made a balancing bird for her garden from old fire extinguishers and threaded bar. Hilary made a dog for her garden once she’d got to grips with not being able to see much through the welding masks. It’s always great to see our students surprise themselves with their capabilities (and a bit of help from us) so if you fancy having a go next year just drop me an email.

They’re occurring thick and fast at the moment are these metal sculpture courses and we can’t call this a weekend one because it’s our first ever weekday one. We’ve slotted this extra one because we had three friends wanting a weekday one so it wasn’t too tricky to find a fourth student to complete the course. John had never welded before and came armed with loads of cutlery his wife gave him from the charity shop she works at and after making a giant bee which we all kept mistaking for a dragonfly went on to make an angler fish, finishing just in time to let it cool down and then pop in his car for the journey home. Steve came with no preconceived ideas and just wanted to see what happened and after finding a pair of cobblers lasts that resembled two legs and feet he went on to make a minion and a strange dog like creature as it’s companion. Mark started making a dog which looked very much like a dog, so much so in fact that he discarded the proposed beak and added a nose and some big ears. He then went on to make a bird which started off as a robin but ended up as a huge penguin – I don’t think we’ve anyone smile so much throughout one of our courses. Finally we had Ole (coming along for the second time) who wanted to make an owl that not only moved a bit in the wind but also had a rotating head. He methodically worked through the whole weekend then produced the finished owl at the last minute like some sort of magician. Thanks as ever to fellow professor Billy aka David Mayne who I run the courses with, our last three for this year are all booked up but if you want to go on our waiting list and get next years dates before they’re released to the general public, just drop me an email.

We’ve just run our 56th course and four happy students surprised themselves with their abilities creating some great pieces of sculpture. It’s an introduction to metal sculpture course so once we’ve covered the basics and shown you how to weld, you’re off and we keep an eye on you until you’ve made at least one piece to take home with you. David Mayne and I run the course with only four students at a time so you get as much guidance and input from us as you need. So this time round we had three new students and one who’d come back for her third time. In my room were the girls, Helen and Laura. Helen just needed a refresher as it was her third time then she was off making giant flowers for her garden from twisted cutlery and rebar. Laura borrowed one of my face moulds and made two heads, one from nuts and the other from ball bearings, definitely a change from her usual root canal work as a dentist. In Billy’s room across the corridor were Chris and Stu. Chris had ideas about making a cat and so it was just a question of deciding which were the right components and fitting them all together. The cat became quite elaborate so now it’ll be an outdoor cat after it’s been galvanised. Stu was bought a place on the course as a Christmas present so had had time to come up with the idea of some brushes and a dragonfly. Being a structural engineer, he did have to compromise on structural integrity a bit in favour of aesthetics but it was a lovely piece of sculpture in the end. We’re full up on course places this year despite slotting and extra two courses in so if you want next year’s dates before they’re released just drop me an email.

That’s it, Holmfirth Artweek all packed away for another year. It’s been really good fun and the weather has really helped with bringing people out to look at the main exhibition and the 41 fringe venues. I was in Coopers Yard in Holmfirth centre, the Sculpture Lounge and at a house called High View on Binns Lane. The Coopers Yard pieces were big because the space was fairly huge and they let me make some pieces from old beer barrels, namely a massive giraffe and a pig head. At High View I had sculptures in the garden and smaller pieces in the house whilst at Sculpture Lounge it was my usual Open Studio event along with most of the mill where you could meet the artists and see them working in their studios. It’s still too early to come up with final sales figures but it’ll be comparable to last year when we raised £45,000 to split between Macmillan and The Kirkwood.

We’ve just finished our 55th course with three new students and one returning student who last came on the course in 2017. It was a really warm weekend so the temperature in the workshop got up to 20 degrees which makes for tiring work but everyone still enjoyed themselves. Helen was last on the course eight years ago when she made a huge abstract garden sculpture, this time she was a little more restrained and did a quite loose drawing of a mother and child then proceeded to scale it up in 10mm bar and then also made a seahorse. Joe was bought a place on the course by his daughter and set about making animal presents to take home with him, namely a calf and a dinosaur. Bobbie and Simon came up from Norfolk to do the course. Bobbie had done lots of ceramic courses previously but wanted to try another medium, one with more immediacy. She made a drunk looking chicken and then some seaweed which she will later add some small ceramic fish to. Finally Simon started off by making a steam engine after spotting some circular washers in our junk pile then made a wire framed pig for their garden. As usual all four students were surprised by what they were capable of making over two days, I run the courses with Billy ( David Mayne) at the Sculpture Lounge near Holmfirth. If you want to try your hand at making something drop me an email to go on next years waiting list.

We’ve just had the Arts Festival in Holmfirth and this year part of it was the ‘River of Art’ whereby various artists worked with schools and community groups to create artwork that would either be sited in or next to the river. As mentioned in a previous post I’d worked with Hepworth Juniors to create a frog on a lily pad. I’d initially intended it to go below the bridge on Hollowgate on top of one of the unsightly sewer inspection hatches but it was decided the pieces would be best nearer the centre so ‘Flo the Frog’ ended up below the footbridge from the bus station over to the Old Bridge Hotel. The river was really low so siting the piece was relatively easy despite forgetting to bring any ladders and discovering a rotting fox corpse. After three days the pieces were all removed and I found a few coins had been thrown onto the lily pad and one even in the frog’s mouth, quite a feat from the high footbridge.

Billy and I have just completed another course and this one was very easy going with four new, novice students learning to weld then creating their own unique pieces of art to take away with them on the Sunday evening. Mick came with his own pile of junk metal he’d collected from his walks around his hometown of Leeds. He assembled steel and aluminium bits into a mythical creature which will take pride of place in his garden. Neil came all the way from Norfolk with no idea what to make and was just happy to play it by ear. Settling on making something for his garden, once we’d got him to slow down and not rush the welding he went on to make a great owl from a fire extinguisher with golf club wings. Beverley found it hard to make a start at first as she kept getting lost in collecting just the right pieces for her flower and bird but then got right into it and made two great pieces of work. Lastly Rachel brought her old sketchbook with her and chose a seahorse from it to make from a mix of old and new bits of steel. The scaled up finished piece, complete with it’s base to make it stand up was a lovely piece of sculpture for someone who’d never welded before. All our dates for this year are fully booked, good for us but not for you if you fancied having a go yourself so if you want to go on our waiting list for next year’s dates just email me.

Last week I worked at Hepworth Junior and Infant School as part of a project for the upcoming Holmfirth Arts Festival. It’s always lovely to work at the school, it’s the school my kids went to so it’s all very familiar and although I only knew about 2 kids, some of the staff are still there, plus it’s only just down the hill from my house. I’d already made a frog on a lily pad because the theme for this years festival project is ‘flow’ and the pieces are going along the river in Holmfirth. It was the kids job to bring the frog to life and they certainly did that. I had lots of small groups of painters come outside and slowly we covered the frog in different coloured green dots. There was a bit of time spare in the afternoon so we made some bugs they could take home from plastic and tape.