busy old and new

Me dogs is barkin! I have been on my feet all day and I am glad of a sit down. I had to meet Shikha and Gareth from work this morning as City Lit has been invited to propose a series of art classes for the Chelsea Pensioners - the ones in the fab scarlet coats. We went to have a look round to see if this is practical and we were bowled over by the place! A stunning setting, a 300 year old hospital built for ex army personnel with glorious gardens running down to the Thames and hosting the Chelsea Flower Show each year. Will I be eligible for freebies?  It was a step out of London hurly burly, incredible facilities for the pensioners and not an Ikea set of drawers of a B and Q lampshade anywhere! I ate dinner in a refectory that would give Hogwarts a run for its money and sat at a table next to the one which the Duke of Wellington was laid out on after he died. This did not affect my appetite.  I think carving classes will work really well there. 
From one extreme to another, we adjourned to see the contemporary Korean artists showing at the Saatchi gallery which actually was quite interesting and whilst I admit to feeling that it was going to be a duty visit, I enjoyed myself. Richard Wilson's tank of oil, a room full of oil, was particularly striking, playing with the notion of space and perceptions of reality. He is not Korean though! 
I followed that with Yoko Ono at the Serpentine and then a splendid dinner in the Africa centre for the Olympics in Hyde park. Fully fuelled, I went to the opening of early career RBS sculptors at Christies, very posh indeed! A magnificent space showing excellent work. 
I now need to get some work made and some applications done, nothing new!

Today I am mostly wearing leather

Lifting out a crucible of molten bronze from the furnace

pouring 

A brilliant week but on one of the hottest days of the year I am mostly wearing leather - today was the pour for the bronze casting course at Morley College. I am helping the fabulous Terry Jones. Some very good work by a great group of students who break open the moulds in the morning. In the picture:- me on the left, the amazingly brilliant Terry Jones in orange and Mycroft. 

There's posh in Taiwan!

Olympic grumble and goldfinches

Alas and alack and much woe. Despite the Olympics not even due to start for another 10 days, it is increasingly difficult to get to the studio. Being right on the park boundary doesn't help. Carpenters Road use to be home to the largest hub of artists studios in Europe, sadly almost all are under the stadium now and my space is just one of the very few left. Being so close I have been subjected to ghastly wailing noises and loud music which presumably are all part of the rehearsal for the games. The traffic has been really grim for the last couple of weeks and will be worse as we are now restricted with games lanes (£130 fine for going even onto the white line apparently) and the tube has been heaving for the last fortnight so I have no intention of trying to brave the crowds at Stratford unless I absolutely have too. Last night I collected some stone and some tools to work at home. I have a lot of finishing off to do, a lot of unbelievably dull sanding so future blogs will probably précis all the radio 4 and world service programmes that keep me sane while I have been sanding away. I had a brilliant time at the studio, I think I was the only person there for most of the afternoon and started filling a workbench that has drawers with tools, before carrying on with finishing another piece in the Mossom series, Mossom is still in the RA. It is taking ages to thread the wire through but the results are well worth it. I gave in when there were helicopters hovering overhead for nearly half an hour.  
As I write there are goldfinches on the bird feeder and they are becoming regular visitors along with a flock of sparrows. I shall try not to disturb them too much while I am working outside over the next couple of months. 

sunshine and colour

Well the sun shone on me yesterday! Somehow I managed to pick the only rain free day to walk miles carrying a brolly and jacket when I popped down to Kew Gardens and see the David Nash residency/show. This is highly recommended,-the show, I mean, not the bit about looking like a pack horse!-huge lumps of wood in different configurations. Some like the eucalyptus really was just a huge lump, a trunk on its side, 8' high and 20' long, I think that would keep me going for the rest of my days!
The best bit was hearing a cheery laugh and coming face to face with Fred and Jelka Pollock out celebrating 37 years of marriage! Well done both, that it a real achievement. 

The big bit of eucalyptus!

I went off to see Fred's show at Delphina in Bermondsey St, SE1 this morning and it is brilliant, full of vibrant, sumptuous colour and so embracing, it just pulls you in. I have always been a fan and his work gets better every time I see it. 
http://www.poussin-gallery.com/site.php?artist=8 

sociable

A sociable life this week with two separate visitors at the studio making helpful and very positive comments. I am usually on my own and there is often no one else in the building, though there can be some interesting people in cars in the road outside. Thankfully my nudists did not put in an appearance this week. I spent Friday night at APT in Greenwich for their regular open studios,  an amazing hub of artists who have been working  alongside each other for years and making outstanding work. I knew Lou Smith from my Foundation course, Richard Lawrence and Anthony Daley from Wimbledon School of Art. Sheila Vollmer, Steven Lewis, Mali Morris and Geoff Rigden amongst several others as well, are all showing at the RA Summer Show. A vibrant mix of excellent work and extraordinary to think that they have been such an important part of my sculptural life for so long.  Nose to the grindstone now that a fresh batch of clay has been fired....photos later when I start assembling out all

Nudes but no drawing

Having spent much of the day in front of the computer updating handouts for students, a worthy pursuit and one which did need doing,  I made sure that I did get to the studio. I needed to collect some clay to be fired and have another go at splitting a green ash log. The clay is part of a series, one of which 'Mossom' is still on show at the Royal Academy.   The log is proving remarkably resistant to any working and there will be cheers when the split happens. I gave up eventually as it was getting late but  despite the reluctant ash, it was a productive evening. 
My studio is down a dead end road and there is a short turning, away from prying eyes there always seems to be someone 'waiting' in a car. This time a car was parked right in the middle of the road in front of my gates. As I was going to be loading boxes of clay I needed them to move though I was clearly interrupting a private moment.  The young couple were really lovely, she re-arranged her garb and moved the car. 4 hours later the private moment was still ongoing but they obliged my request to move again. I only realised they were naked when they opened the totally steamed up window to be able to see where they were driving. Driving home, I notice a man using crutches  trying to walk with his jeans literally round his knees.  I decided that none of them would appreciate me asking them if I could do some life drawing.