Medieval Influences

Apparently things medieval are becoming fashionable. This is quite annoying to me because I have been interested in medieval history, politics and art for a some time now. It strikes me that while the differences are huge between the present time and say 13th century England, some of the parallels are also interesting:
- replace the catholic church with the EU as the supranational power broker and
forum for international deal making, making perennial raids on national
sovereignty
- intellectual elites living a vastly different life from that of the majority
- confrontation with Islam

The art of the period is of course dominated by religious subjects and for a sculptor the largest sources of extant work are the stone carvings on religious buildings. English sculpture of this type presents a problem in that many fine pieces were destroyed in the Tudor period and the Civil War but quantities survive and I am trying to collect some images to use as a starting point for my own work.

The ones in this post I took on a walk around Castle Combe in Wiltshire - reckoned to be one of the prettiest villages in England, which takes some claiming, but might well be true!

Back To Work

Christmas is past, weight has been gained, the big freeze and too much of the day job has put my studio out of action for most of the last two months and I have been busy online doing other things so no posts...

This will change - the resolution is made, this is the year that I manage to post a new article at least once a week... there its in print!

So much has happened, both politically, economically and socially that this year should also be an artistically significant one - will my contribution be any good? Who knows!

The big feet people are changing - economic necessity and the need for a change of style means that these figures are going to free up, less emphasis on the caricature element and more on the overall feel of the piece. Also more groups and more political / social themes.

Today has been one of change in The Wold Gallery, Moreton-In-Marsh, where I show my work. Lots of positive comment and interest in the work, that might return as commissions later, but disappointing sales...so new material. Prunella the gardener and a couple of cricketers are going to try their luck. These pieces are already looser in the glazing, more like a watercolour finish to them. Hopefully this and a modest price reduction will help sales.