SCULPTURE

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Kishi is a young ceramicist from Glastonbury. 

Burning bright in the heart of Mayan mythology, the spirit of Ixcacao. An imaginative figure often seen dressed in white blossoms, the Goddess of cacao. Throughout time she has been worshiped alongside other agricultural deities.

Ixcacao’s fruits are thought to have intoxicating and aphrodisiac properties, traditionally used in ceremony by being brewed into a spicy, bittersweet drink. Legends of people permitted to walk for days without food.

This magical mother who provides us with her joyous beans is surely one to be gratefully mindful of.

Adam Egginton has lived in the west country his whole life. He studied fine art painting and sculpture at Bower Ashton (University of the West of England).

He has worked as a mould maker and founder of sculptures for the last 28 years, but has only recently begun to create his own work.

"My entire working life so far has been dedicated to creating sculptures for a number of well known artists and learning the intricacies of mould making and casting. However it has been on my mind for a number of years to think about creating my own work. I finally fell into sculpting almost by accident (helping my daughter with a school project), but since starting, I find it to be a wonderfully immersive pastime and I intend to make a lot more work".

Anne-Marie has drawn and modelled animals from an early age. She gained a degree in ceramics from Middlesex University in 1992. She went on to set up her studio in the New Forest, where she was inspired by the animals around her.Her travels around the world enabled her to study wild animals first hand, particularly in Africa.Anne-Marie’s more recent work is based on the domestic and wild animals that inhabit the Forest around her studio.Anne-Marie uses a variety of techniques to construct her work including slab building, press moulding, pinching and coiling. Interesting surface textures are achieved by experimenting with rolling the clay on a variety of materials.The pieces are coloured with oxides andunder glazes and fired up to 1200c.Anne-Marie’s work is constantly evolving, she shows her work in Galleries all over England.

Fred Gordon, born in 1993, graduated from the University of Edinburgh in July 2017 with a 2:1 MA (Hons) in French and History of Art, after having done a foundation diploma in Art and Design at Falmouth University. He has always been interested in some form of art and, despite being largely self-taught, Fred has been sculpting professionally since 2011. Determined to pursue a career in wildlife sculpture, he was fortunate to secure a place with Animal Art Fair in London, exhibiting in their summer exhibition. He also took part in the Natural Eye Exhibition for the Society of Wildlife Artists and was, also, thrilled to be asked to take part in the SMA Trust Charity Auction Dinner in the National Gallery, London. Fred finished 2017 exhibiting at the Art for Youth London exhibition at the Mall Galleries and was awarded the much coveted Wates Foundation Diana Brooks Prize for new and emerging talent.

Having lived in the countryside all his life, Fred was exposed to and inspired by the natural world from an early age. To begin with, he primarily used drawing as a way of capturing the essence of his subjects. However, in 2011, influenced by his mother, he turned to sculpture, as he could better articulate the intricacies of the anatomy, and the movement inherent in the wildlife he observed. Fred uses quick and fluid gestures to capture the motion and vitality of the subject. Working first in clay or wax, the piece is then cast in bronze or bronze resin.

Born in Warwickshire, I moved to the West Country, firstly to read European Studies at The University of Bath in 1981 and latterly, in 1994, to set up home with my family in The Chew Valley, where I remain to this day, having done a stint in London.

For the past ten years my focus has been sculpting, which I happened upon when I agreed to accompany a friend on a ceramics course for one afternoon a week at The Bristol School of Art. I was instantly hooked and have not looked back. Interest in my work grew and I began to start selling my pieces.

George has been working with recycled metal for over 25 years, creating lifelike bird and animal sculptures. He was brought up to make do and mend. Fourteen years in the Territorial Army showed him how to improve self-sufficiency. It was during the time spent in an engineering environment that he realised his ability to see sculptural material and shapes amongst the metal bound for the scrap bin: by welding together pieces carefully chosen from discarded steel, his sculptures have become increasingly more lifelike, capturing the character of the animals and birds which unwittingly model for him.

I am obsessed with clay. For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by it, digging it up from the fields when I was young and making things that rapidly fell to pieces. It is the only material I know that only needs hands to shape it.

Despite no formal opportunity to train in ceramics, I have always continued to make things out of clay.

Each piece I make is entirely hand built. The animal sculptures include British wildlife, farm animals, dogs and cats. I also make other animals found further afield, such as rhinos, leopards or elephants. Apart from the ceramics, my work is available in Bronze resin and foundry Bronze..

She constructs sculptures from clay, plaster or wax.

Her tactile sculptures are all hand made in the UK each one an individual.

Michelle has a wide range of ceramic, bronze and Bronze resin sculptures, produced with a variety of glazes and textures.

Born in West Dorset in the late 1950s, Sophie grew up in Yorkshire and trained at Winchester Art School before moving to London and later returning to the West Country in 1987. She lives in Bristol and is a director of HOURS, a gallery and event space in the city.

Sophie makes evocative sculpture in her central Bristol studio. She collaborates with others - mould makers, casters and other artists to realise her designs and commissions.

Seeking to find her own voice she makes collections of pieces exploring themes including motion and stillness, the body, city life and animals.

Suzie studied at Brighton and Exeter Colleges of Art and obtained her degree in ceramic sculpture in 1982. After several years as a designer for Devon based companies during which she gained an insight into modern techniques of industrial ceramic production, she established her own workshop in 1986. Since then she has become well known for her animal sculpture which she sells through shops and galleries both in the UK and abroad. She has undertaken many private and business commissions including sculpture exhibits for a museum in Taiwan and the public installation of Nelson the Seal at Looe Harbour in Cornwall.

Suzie’s work reflects her own fascination with animal character and form. Her inspiration is taken from life whenever possible and, through constant observation of her own animals, she has become an acknowledged leader in the portrayal of the domestic cat. Suzie is a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors.

Kate Newlyn is a self-taught sculptor. Originally trained in the Performing Arts she worked in London as performer/mask-maker for various mime companies. Gradually the focus shifted from the fluid images of mime to the stillness of sculpture. After an apprenticeship at a bronze foundry she moved to Greece (1991) where she lived and sculpted for 6 years, Following a further year in Turkey and various working trips to France, Italy and the U.S.A., she returned to the UK. She now lives and works in Somerset, sculpting to commission and teaching at the Newlyn School of Sculpture.

As a qualified cabinetmaker I have worked with wood since I left school so it was a natural progression to start carving the wildlife I enjoy so much. I use found woods mixed with other woods I have in the workshop/studio at any given time and I finish my work with acrylic paints and waxes. My carvings are what I see and observe in the characteristics of the subject and I do not emulated every detail as I like to add my own interpretation as I carve.

Derek is based near Saffron Walden, Essex.

With two decades of experience as a caster and sculptor, Count Umber specialises in striking, original cold-cast pieces. These are not traditional works of sculpture, but have been designed to be picked up and turned over in the hands. Count Umber pieces are chunky, heavy and elegant. Each work from Count Umber is entirely cast and finished by him. Every single cast is unique, with its own quirks and imperfections.

I work with very simple images that come from our tribal past, when rock art was all we had between us and the wolf. Iconic animals - horses, deer, foxes, ravens - are woven into our folklore, and our collective unconsciousness.

We have a strong culture attached to the horse, and I've followed the thread of horses all my life, painting them and working with them, alongside a professional career in dentistry.

In 2005 I gave up the dental practice to focus on art. Working in ceramics I've found interesting parallels between the technical challenges of glazes and firing and my early training in material sciences.