I’ve been away in deepest Herefordshire working intensely on a new piece (photos here); I know that some of the emergent forms have been influenced by the old North Wood. Arriving at the Slindon block after being stuck in pumpkin traffic, I knew that this session would see great strides ahead for the developing forms, as I had taken the decision to use a cutting blade to help open up and remove a large section – about a cubic foot – between the figure of the large squatting figure and the canopy of the imagined old Northwood pollard. With a cutting disc, the surface of the harder material can be incised with 1″ deep lines, which allow it to be sheared off with a huge chisel exerting force perpendicular to the cut.
35 visitors today were from Felpham, London, Slindon, Bognor; some sculpture followers from Kent stayed overnight in Arundel to see both sculpture and pumpkins and remarked on the poem by Belloc about the carving in the church. Many returners from the village had not seen the stone for three or four months, and expressed how the forms had changed.
The sheep a little down the lane appear to have been nattering about developments. Come and see for yourselves before it moves back toward Northwood… as the winter approaches and the tracks become muddy once again. Next carving on Saturday 24th Oct, 5 mins up from the end of Northwood Lane!
Slindon Sculpture 