The Fruits of our Labours

I land in Boston and get whisked off to the DeCordova sculpture park by my good chum Adria. http://www.adriaarch.com DeCordova is a fantastic place with a regular change of exhibits outside and a fab gallery space. I have just spent a glorious evening in the company of Tim de Christopher who has this fantastic sculpture 'The Fruit of our Labors' showing there right now. And I got to see the first chipmunk this visit!

I should be packing

Sunday- catch up with the wonderful Terry Jones at Morley college and we set up the sculpture studio for a bronze casting course
Monday- 8 great students making wax sculptures and a pint with lovely Terry on the way home
Tuesday- 8 really good wax sculptures invested and in the kiln ready for the pour tomorrow. A well earned drink with Terry on the way home
Tuesday evening- I should be packing, my flight for the stone symposium in Acton Massachusetts is at 9.15 am tomorrow morning- hurrah!  http://www.contemporaryartsinternational.org/
I shall miss the bronze casting course, it is brilliant as well as being huge fun but there is a large lump of granite waiting for me, more to follow

Brancaster Chronicles

The Brancaster Chronicles last weekend were brilliant, exhausting but really excellent. A gathering of artists to discuss each others work. I think I learnt, thought about, considered and reflected about sculpture more this weekend than I have since last year's discussions and that was the first time in many years. All the talks were recorded and I am now in the process of transcribing the discussion about my sculptures which will then be posted to the abstract critical website http://abstractcritical.com
This may take sometime!

 Robin Greenwood steel sculpture, quite  superb

 setting up, my sculpture in front of a glorious Fred Pollock painting

 My sculpture under discussion with great paintings by Emyr williams on the walls

big sculptures

Tate Gallery today and it was fab - air conditioning! I am not happy in the heat and London right now is hot, high twenties and it is horrid.  The Tate has Phyllida Barlow  showing "imposing, large scale sculptural installations using inexpensive, everyday materials such as cardboard, fabric, timber, polystyrene, plaster, scrim and cement. Her distinctive work is focused on her experimentation with these materials, to create bold and colourful three-dimensional collages" in the Duveen Gallery. I contrasted that with the Folk Show http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/british-folk-art 
which proves the need that people have to make, paint draw beautify and interpret the world around them. 
As part of the CONCEPTION, EXECUTION, RECEPTION, show at the RBS, Richard Deacon gave a talk with Isabel Vasseur about 'Nose to Nose, beginning to end'. All three talks have been a fascinating insight into public sculpture, the difficulties as well as the tremendous achievements.  

Nose to Nose, Beginning to End by Richard Deacon RA for the Glasgow Garden Festival 1988

TALK: CONCEPTION EXECUTION RECEPTION – Richard Deacon RA and Isabel Vasseur

16 July 2014

RBS Galleries, 108 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3RA

Chronicles

The enforced idleness due to the unintentional piercing, perhaps that should more rightly be called an impaling has come to an end. The stigmata is healing nicely. I did manage to undertake a little light plinth painting at the weekend and I am just about ready for the Brancaster Chronicles coming up later this week.  The Chronicles which started last year, are a series of studio talks with invited artists where we discuss each others work. It was enormously successful last year and the same format applies this year. I shall be taking some work to Robin Greenwoods studio in Bermondsey and I shall be up for the crit on Sunday. So more photos to follow

before the start, sculpture by Tony Smart

 The morning discussion 

 An Anne Smart painting

stigmata

I always thought I was special but I now have a stigmata to show for it. I needed to move a bench at work and whilst giving a great heavy bench a shove, I managed to impale my hand on an industrial staple that some twit had left sticking out. The wound itself is not great but the first aider and I were both concerned about the grot that might be on it so I was packed off to A+E thus missing the last class of a carving course, a great shame as I have had a really good time with this particular group of students.  Many thanks to the lovely staff at University College Hospital who patched me up and I look forward to seeing the lovely staff nurse who wants to join one of my classes. The enforced idleness is not good timing either with the discussion forum the 'Brancaster Chronicles' next weekend as one of the pieces I intend to take is not yet finished…….
Read the transcripts from last year http://abstractcritical.com/?s=brancaster