Sculptural forms

All through humanities history there seems to be constant wars resulting in the ruination and destruction of countries or populations of people, all because of the decisions of the politicians or various leaders. I wanted to represent this in my latest piece Guardian, without forcing the chaos and turmoil of war on people.

The main globe represents the destruction and effects of war on the civilisations people and culture. The snake the politicians and leaders, who's actions envelope the country, slowly bringing it to it's knees. The thread of wood up the centre represents what little actually holds everything together in times of war, although there is still hope as the thread emerges into a larger finial at the top. The twists throughout the piece are there to suggest how the same pattern repeats itself all throughout history. Lastly the piece has a heavy solid Ebony base, giving good foundations to the piece as in life and it's up to us what we build on the solid beautiful base of Earth.

The woods used include Sycamore, Ebony, Fake Ivory.

The overall height is approximately 508mm (20")

The woods used include Sycamore, Bubinga and Ebony.

The diameter is approximately 230mm (9") and the overall height is approximately 265mm (10.5")

I love the natural jagged rock features often found round the coast of Cornwall. The force of the sea has often carved and torn the rock away creating misshapen caverns that extend back into darkness. These amazing sights have inspired my latest piece, called Cavern. I carved part of the globe away in a jagged shape reminiscent of the entrance of a cavern but instead of darkness inside I have created a triple barley twist stem that winds it's way up from the bottom to top of the form. Another triple barley twist stem continues on beneath the globe to form the stand. I have carved holes in the remaining wood of the globe to create a more delicate form and to give a clearer view of the inside. On the top of the piece is an open barley twist finial. The use of so many barley twists throughout the piece was inspired by the idea of the rolling waves that attack the coast lines, forming the caverns.

The woods used include Sycamore, Ebony, Purpleheart and Fake Ivory.

The overall height is approximately 470mm (18.5")

I wanted to expand on a previous idea for the 'Ball and flame' and also introduce a space theme into my work. I also have always thought there is something magical and fascinating about anything to do with space. On seeing my 'Ball and flame', many people had commented that it looked like a planet, which left me with the idea of creating a new piece with an angled rim to give the globe the appearance of the planet Saturn. I refined the design of the stand to suit this new globe.

The main globe is all turned out of one piece of Rhododendron, which had to be turned on two axis to put the rim at an angle. The other woods used are ebony for the black parts, striped ebony for the base and pau amarelo for the single open barley twist.

This idea was inspired by a pair of antique candlesticks that I had seen a few years ago. They were made from metal and had a very intricate open barley twist up most of their stems. I wanted to expand on this design somehow and then the idea of a ball and flame on a candlestick occurred to me. From there I refined this initial idea into the final sculptural form. The wood the ball is turned from is willow and the finial and stand are turned from Bubinga which has a red colour to it.