From small whittling of my youth to the large scale abstracts of today, stone carving has been the only constant.
Having been informed of this site by a good friend, i will attempt to depict the pits and highs of trying to work as a sculptor in the UK.
My Starting point, is as a totally unknown artist, my last exhibition as a student was over ten years ago in a small cafe in London. The last ten or so years have been spent surviving, traveling, attempting to start businesses and all the usual life passing activities.
My new focus on sculpture started with a life changing moment in India in 2004, its not important what it was, needless to say it was something to do with a very big wave on boxing day. This re aligned my thinking, from spending 14hrs a day sat in front of a pc, attempting to keep up with the world for web design and pc maintenance, earning next to nothing, to thinking, i may as well follow my dream and still possibly earn nothing, but gain a sense of satisfaction at the end of each day that far out weighs the headaches and stresses, back pains, strained eyes and generally depleting health involved in my attempt at becoming the next Bill Gates.
Having studied with the traditional Indian granite carvers in Tamil Nadu, south India for three years, i feel its time to return to the uk and try to sell my work so far, and build a customer base for future works.
I have a few short falls to overcome, ok, more than a few, i find it almost impossible to write about my work, the reasons for it, why i do it and what communicates, i’d love to be in a place where my work speaks for its self and theres no need to dissect the processes and explain myself, but this isnt what the arts funding authorities nor possible galleries etc want from an imerging artist. In fact the only thing i have going for me is this seemingly unshakable addiction to stone carving.
On my return to the UK, after the initial shock, I’ve landed in Somerset, in a great house, which i cant afford, in a great village, in which i know nobody, i do have a small space rented from a local quarry in which i can make the noise and create the dust needed to continue this vocation.
So i’m in a familiar place to other artist i’ve spoken to, you spend all your time doing the work, and have none left for the promotion, selling,and exhibiting of the final pieces. I’m lucky enough to have scrounged some small commissions, brilliant to further my skills and even bring a little money, but these have taken valuable time away from my own work, and so pushed the opportunity of exhibiting a comprehensive body of work further away.
This blog will depict the hours i spend doing and thinking about my work, the attempts i make at promotions and exhibitions, and generally my current thinking during all this.
