cutting

This was a school that was closing down and as a leaving present to the community we created this tree. Each child and teacher drew around their hand on the metal. Cut it out and hammered it for a bit of texture. I then welded them all together to form the tree.

Oak Leaf Wreath. During the schools art week I worked with one year group to create this indoor wall hanging (its painted silver not galvanised). Kids all got to cut, file and hammer the leaves in metal. I then welded them together in my studio and returned the finished sculpture to the school.

Using the schools banner of a blue sky, grass and sunshine as a starting point I got the kids to design "things" to fill out the picture. I then turned the drawings of flowers, bugs etc. into templates that we could turn in to metal sculptures. The kids cut, filed, hammered. I welded the bits and painted them before installing back at the school.

I spent a few days at the school working with kids that had a range of complex learning difficulties. They cut filed and hammered the metal using templates I had already prepared. I welded the bits together and returned the finished deer sculpture to the school.

I worked with AJS for several years running various short courses.

A group of parents could sign up with their child to spend a couple of hours with me once a week for 5 or 6 weeks, working together to design and make a small metal flower or butterfly. At the end of the course I took all their pieces and welded them together so they could keep the finished sculpture.

A group of kids (mixed ages) could sign up for a term of "metalwork" on a Friday afternoon. I changed the projects over the years but they designed and made flowers, bugs, mobiles/wind chimes, fish, and 3d pictures.

At the end of my time there we did a spectacular project all designed by the kids. I took hundreds of drawings they did for me and turned them in to one big design. I then spent 2 solid weeks at the school working with every single child to cut and hammer all of the pieces. Welded all the bits together in my studio, painted them and then installed back at the school. The kids then did further projects around the sculpture, writing essays and stories about it.

The Knowledge Tree

Schools and community groups in the area all got involved with this project. Using drawings provided by these groups I created a design, ran several workshops at the library and day centre working with an age range of 8-80 yr olds. The community helped to cut, file and hammer all of the pieces of metal. I then welded them together, painted them and installed them at the library.

A dove of peace, surrounded by olive leaves bearing the schools values. During workshops at the school kids cut and hammered leaves and feathers. I then welded them together, galvanised, painted and installed the sculpture at the schools entrance.

The entire school, including the nursery class helped with this sculpture. Working from my design the kids cut filed and hammered all of the bits (its a tree with lots of "things surrounding it: birds, spiders, bugs, flowers). I welded all the bits together in my studio, painted them and installed them back at the school.

The first school workshop I ever did. The school approached me having seen my sculptures at Wisley, they wanted to do an Arts Week project using metal. I worked with one class each day to create a different part of the sculpture. The kids got to cut, file, hammer, watch me do a bit of welding (can't get insurance to do that in school anymore), and on day 1 do some painting (never again! Metal paint and children don't mix).