Happy Christmas!

My 3" Birch faced Ply Christmas Trees!

For sale at Darkroom

So having recently been delivered, here is my jewellery collection individually priced and ready for sale.
http://www.darkroomlondon.com/

Marcus James

Its about time I started to write about friends and colleagues that produce beautiful work. The first of these people is a lovely friend of mine, Marcus James.  Ever since we first met back in our student days I have always been a big fan of his style of illustration. His most recent drawings of  Iberian bulls in Coral and bullfights in Spain and Southern France, are stunning. To see more and understand the influences behind his work, follow the links below.

3400mm x 2500mm. Graphite drawing on paper.

1900mm x 2800mm. Graphite drawing on paper.




http://www.mortexhibition.com/#2346793/Mort-Exhibition

http://www.marcusjames.co.uk

A visit to Tate Modern

'Spanning nearly five decades, and coinciding with the artist’s 80th birthday, Gerhard Richter: Panorama is a major retrospective exhibition that groups together significant moments of his remarkable career.'


I recently went to to see the Gerhard Richter exhibition at Tate Modern. I was suprised by just how much of his work I enjoyed. Big fan of some of the abstract paintings such as 'Grey' 1973 but also really loved some of the realist paintings based on photos. Well worth a visit.

'Iceberg in the mist' 1982


http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/gerhardrichter/default.shtm

Yo-Yo

So what to give as a gift when you become a Godfather? Well I thought Otto might like a Yo-Yo to play with when he is a bit older ( he is only a year old ) so I thought I would make him one out of Cherry! Below is how I did it.

I started by rounding a square block on the lathe

From the initial piece I cut it into two. I only needed one of these pieces so one became a spare.

I then mounted one of the pieces back onto the lathe. Form this I was be able to get the two halves I needed

A few minutes of wood turning and polishing later and I had one of the halves ready to cut off the end of the block

 I then duplicated the other half

 Blue string, for a boy!

 My trademark box

and a little extra detail added for good measure.

Delivered!

So after many months of gradually making them, my first jewellery collection of bangles and rings were delivered last night to Darkroom. More pictures to follow when they are priced and in store.

To see them go and visit Darkroom on Lambs Conduit St.
http://www.darkroomlondon.com/

A little inspiration

Visited the V&A the other day to have a look at their current exhibition 'The Power of Making' Really worth a visit if not just to see the work of Dalton Ghetti, below. Check out more of his stuff at http://www.daltonmghetti.com/

Image from yatzer.com




Go see this and more at the V&A until 2nd January 2012
http://www.vam.ac.uk/

How I make my Rings

Below is a series of images taking you through the process that I use to make a Wenge and Oak ring. Although the process is the same for each ring, they are each completely unique as they are all hand crafted.

I first take a piece of Wenge and drill a series of holes into it. These holes must be large enough to fit the Oak inner ring inside. The Oak inner ring becomes the final ring size. I have made a series of rings at 3 different sizes so hopefully there is a size for everyone.

Here the Oak inner ring has been rough cut on a bandsaw ready for the next stage which is sanding to size. 

The rough cut outer Wenge and inner Oak rings, are now ready for sanding to their respective sizes. 

The sanding is all done by hand and I have to judge the thickness of the Oak ring to perfection in order for it to fit snug inside the Wenge ring

 With the Oak rings sanded to size they are then glued inside the Wenge outer ring.

 I remove any excess again on the sander to leave them flat.

 Back on the sander again, now is the point I sand to the finished overall size.

This is the point in the process when its all about the final finish. First I jam the ring on a spinning wooden dowel jig attached to a pillar drill and with very fine carbide paper, I sand until super smooth.

Almost there. An initial buff on the polishing wheel and its ready to have the finishing coat added. I use woodturners polish which is applied and left to soak in and dry.

 With the polish dry its back on the wheel again to work on that glossy look. Like most processes the more time you put in the better the finish. 

and done.

My work in French Elle Decoration?

These shots taken for French Elle Decoration show some of my pieces from 'Showing Signs' , hanging on the walls of Darkroom London as part of their Strobing season.


 http://www.darkroomlondon.com/index.php/news/darkoom-is-strobing/

Occupied

Lecture Theatre 
These shots are taken from my first exhibition 'Occupied' back in June 2005. A series of Architectural sculptures exploring the way humans inhabit the space in everyday situations. 

It explores how built environments and their users interact; how 

physical structures influence the human character and action. 

It considers proximity and juxtaposition; pattern and rhythm; 

acceptability and placement. It reveals how our built 

environments are never just visible spaces; they are always 

overlaid with invisible meanings. 

As Winston Churchill said “We shape our buildings and 

afterwards our buildings shape us.” 

Street

Car

Public Toilets

Tube Train

Underground Tube Station












In the Autumn of 2006, I joined Andy and Corrado in a collaborative show entitled 'Escaping space' at Chelsea Future space. Follow the links for more info.
http://www.chelsea.arts.ac.uk/newsevents/eventsarchive/events2006/exhibitionescapingspace/ 
http://gamecritical.net/modules/wiwimod/index.php?page=EscapingSpaceExhib

Follow the link below for a downloadable PDF of the this exhibition.
gamecritical.net/stuff/downloads/EscSpace_cat.pdf 

Rings

So here is my first set of rings that I have made, to join the bangles, forming my first jewellery collection. They are made from Wenge with a thin Oak inner ring. The bangles are nearly done and I am making a small set of mens rings as well. I will keep you posted when all is complete.

Heels for Helen

I was asked to create wooden heels for Central St Martins MA Fashion Design student Helen Bullock. The first heels made were very precise, straight edged blocks. I then made some from old and weathered wood. They went for the second set and the results can be seen at....
http://www.fashionising.com/pictures/s--Helen-Bullock-AW-11-9308-1.html