Seduced by the polish!

From Blue to Brown in 6 stages of rubbing and sanding! 

The Last Push!

The end is in sight and its the last push now to polish the ragstone to a beautiful luster.

 

 

Upside Down & Back to Front

Grinding and more grinding today! Even thought it's the underside of the bench I'm working on and no one will ever see it, I still must have the surface perfect! I'll start drilling the fixing holes for the legs next and finally get it upright, to its correct height. I'm expecting the next stage to be a lot slower as I know I will need to lift it off the legs and test it quite a few times until it sits solid and firm.

Making Waves

I have been adding the 'ripple'detail to the bench today. Now the polishing can begin. The stone will change colour as I polish the surface over the next few days from the silvery white to a unique palette of blue, brown and green!

Take a Seat!

With the sun on my back, progress is being made with the 1.8m stone bench.

The first profile has been cut and now the process of emptying the stone curves begins. The only way to do this is by removing long thin sections, cut to a depth of 2 inches and then repeating the process. It always surprises me exactly how much stone you can and need to actually remove to get to your desired form!

Curves and Line

The long block of rag is now in position to be drawn on and the removal of stone can begin.
At the very start when creating a large stone sculpture, the awkward weight and volume of a quarry block always gets me excited! I know the objective of removing and emptying the stone of all the parts I don't want will soon transform it from being something rigid and solid into something, lighter softer and malleable looking, it just takes time, patience and a lot of dust.

Folding Stone

The small origami boat is nearly finished and is being carved from a block of Portland Limestone. I have to be mindful of the folds and returns on the design so not to allow for the collection of water or debris when it is fixed in place. I have modified the folds and kept them shallow and robust rather than thin and deep like on paper maquettes.

 

Refining the Design!

After listening to feedback regarding the first initial design I have reworked the idea, changing the scale of certain elements and hopefully increasing the seats appeal!

Paper Sails

Design for the Sculptural Bench. Carved in Kentish Ragstone and Portland Limestone

Paper, Scissors, Stone.

Despite the inclement weather, the residents of Hughenden Reach turned out for our 'pop - up' art workshop last night. The theme of the workshop brought together ideas based around the local paper mills and the river that runs along the boundary of the development. Participants were shown methods and techniques used in printmaking, such as Lino cutting and block printing to make there very own artwork. Another feature of the workshop was paper folding, and it seemed fitting to make all the children experts in producing there own paper boat!

 As I continue to work on the the main sculpture design for the residents garden I'm starting to like the idea of developing a curved and wavy bench with rippling textures flowing across the surface and incorporating a scaled version of one of the origami paper boats floating along the edge. This will become a functional sculpture, creating a subtle reminder for everyone involved, not only about taking part in the workshop, but also as a reference to the long history of paper making in the area. The only thing to do now is to select which paper boat to use as a model for the stone carving!

Bed Rock

The materials used within this artwork will be hand carved using a local source of Ragstone from the Gallagher's Quarry, Hermitage Lane, Maidstone. I started carving and working the stone after long periods of hesitation, due to learning that the term ‘rag’ was given to stone that is hard to work!
Ragstone is a limestone and can therefore polish well with plenty of interesting pockets of colour. It was interesting to learn that King Henry V used the very same Kentish Ragstone to make cannon balls in 1419, when he ordered 7000 of these from the quarry in Maidstone.
In contrast to the ragstone, I also wanted to introduce a further stone element that will add texture and detail to the sculpture. This element of the sculpture will pick up on the history of the paper mill's while also making it relevant to the current residents of Hughenden Reach. 
 

Ragstone Beds at the Gallagher Quarry, Maidstone

A little bit of History - Papermaking by hand at Hayle Mill, Tovil, in 1976

A short film, made by Anglia TV, describing all the processes in making fine paper including a great interview with local artist Graham Clarke.

The Vat Man

https://youtu.be/Xs3PfwOItto

The idea for a sculpture

Hughenden Reach is a recent property development, constructed by the Town & Country Housing Group and located in the area of Tovil, near Maidstone, Kent. 
Due to its proximity to the Loose Stream and the River Medway, it is not surprising the area had a large number of paper mills. The mills ceased operation in the 1980s and some of which included the Great Ivy Mill, Hayle Mill, Upper Tovil Mill, Lower Tovil Mill and Bridge Mill.
Using this aspect of the areas industrial heritage and working on the theme of ‘paper’ and ‘water’, the key objective is to create an artwork that will celebrate the history and heritage of the area while also making it engaging for the current residents of Hughenden Reach.

The Royal Paper Mill public house sign