Born London (Battersea) 1951
Lived in Sutton and Battersea 53 -
Sculpture Dip AD. Kingston Polytechnic 69-
Moved to Bath, Somerset 75
Apprentice Banker Mason Bath and Portland Stone Firms 75-
Wells Cathedral statue conservator and stone mason 79-
Sculpture lecturer (part time) Bath Academy of Art.
Foundation and part time courses 1980-
Partner. Nimbus Conservation. 84-
Freelance sculptor / illustrator 94
Dean and Chapter Bristol Cathedral. -
1999. East Twerton Infants School Bath. -
1999 Chew Valley School Chew Magna Somerset. -
Roman Baths Museum Bath
1985. Bath Festival carving display in Victoria Park
1999. Green Belt / The Bible society. Story telling / carving display
1999. Soul Survivor / New wine trust. Exhibition and workshops
2000. Bath Abbey 2000 Carving display outside the church
All through my working life I have been involved with community projects, public art and architectural sculpture. In my conservation and restoration work most of the projects were for public organisations and reflected not only the obvious need to maintain a structure or carving, but the desire of the community to upkeep the meaning and message of the building or art work. It is this idea of passing on the testament of the originators that captured me at Wells Cathedral and made me a Christian and continues to motivate me now. We learn very little by ourselves, it is from others that we know how things are. I learned this from the masons who taught me my trade, but for their good will I would be ignorant of many skills. It is so fundamental to communicate what we know to others and share knowledge in return. This is why I have made sculpture that illustrates and interprets the bible stories. Many people no longer hear these stories or understand the wisdom they convey. It is the sharing process that is important I am interested to find out what people's spiritual perspective is. What do they see and think about is what I am making and about the story I am telling.
The story of a living church and the stories from the bible intertwine with the ideas
and values of the greater community. The Bibles evolution is intimately related to
people's values and aspirations and the way they live. The stories are not exclusive
in the wisdom they convey. For instance The Parable Of The Talents Luke \ 19 can
easily be seen as an exhortation to get a life. Use the life you have been given
instead of burying it in a hiding place of false security, which brings no returns
in self-
The power of these stories really hits home as I have found in my Casting the First Stone (See Slides) People are very moved realising the vulnerability in others and themselves. This work was inspired by the prostitution on the streets around our (then) workshop in Bristol and my hardening callousness towards the women as I became accustom to encountering them. The life of the church must also encounter such pain as well as experiencing the glories of being a light shining in the darkness. The Nineveh Express is about that feeling every one knows of trying to ignore the thing you have to do in the end. For Christians there is the question of how do you listen to God? How does the church listen to God? For others what is a conscience? How do they decide what to do? Apart from all that children ask me why the man is being eaten by the fish because they haven't heard the story before. So I find I am also fulfilling a very basic function of introducing them to the story for the first time.
When I work as an artist I communicate my own ideas and imagination entering new territory on a trail or journey that revolves around exchanging ideas and experiences with the people who see my work. I value the experience of working with people as a way of continuing my development as an artist and Christian and as an opportunity to contribute to the continuous testimony of the church.