Hardwick Gallery January 2023

Artist in Residence

I have been working out in the field at Rococo Gardens Painswick for a few years. 

The Ash Dieback (Chalara) project was funded initially by DYCP Award from the Arts Council. 

This allowed me to work publicly with the fallen Ash from Dieback disease, develop my knowledge of Ash and expand my textural and scorching techniques. 

Ash is such a beautiful, robust timber and strangely the disease doesn't appear to damage the structure of the wood. The Chalara black marks in the heartwood are very distinct and interesting to carve. 

From my elevated position in the top field I could see a young diseased Ash and my inspiration for many of the carved pieces was taken from this particular tree. The leaves, seed keys, bark and buds all informing my ideas. 

I would then look in great detail at these elements with my field microscope. Make drawings and then begin the carving process. 

Once a sculpture was finished I would liaise with the gardeners about a suitable location back in the garden. 

For over 30 years I've carved Ash, so it's incredibly sad that we may lose up to 95% of our Ash population. 

However there is hope as even at Rococo there are resilient trees that are not succumbing to the disease. Even trees with Dieback are starting to fight back and beat it, so perhaps it won't be as devastating as Dutch Elm disease. 

Working in this environmentally friendly way, outside with my feet firmly on the ground with the sky above me has been my singular way of working for many years. Having the natural light and air, working with the seasons helps feed into the very powerful process of carving. 

Always using wood that has come down naturally or through disease, gives me the opportunity to give that wood another life. 

Each carving reflects exactly what is going on in that moment in time. You have the incredible history of the wood, my own energy, thoughts, the place and people around me all feeding into this special process. 

The plan is to set up my temporary studio outside the front of Hardwick Campus. 

Today I sourced some recently felled diseased Ash, kindly donated by CBC. from Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings SSSI, Cheltenham. 

I will be Working with slim, long branches of ash to create interesting, sculptural pencil forms. These will very much be site specific pieces driven by my interaction with the wood, the place and the people. 

I will have my small jewellers forge fuelled by ash chippings to scorch the tips of my forms. I will also be making drawing charcoal from ash sticks wrapped in foil and charred in the forge. 

Any drawings made during the residency will be on slices of ash made with my own ash drawing sticks. 

The finished pieces will then be suspended in the gallery over small slices of ash tablets, where there scorched tips when moving will make marks on the wood. 

Once the exhibition is over the giant pencil forms will then go back into Rococo, where the wind will naturally power their drawing movements.