I have lived and worked on the Lizard peninsula for more than 50 years and I have been working with serpentine for more than 20 years.
It is very important to me, creatively, that I use the materials from around me. The process of searching and collecting for the stone is as enjoyable as working and shaping the material and seeing the finished sculpture or item. I am self taught, but have built up a knowledge of the stone and how to work it. Cornish Serpentine, with its unpredictable structures and colour, is unique to the Lizard Peninsula. It has been worked, historically, since 1828. Traditionally it is turned on a lathe but it can also be shaped using rudimentary tools. At one time there were eleven quarries supplying the industry, these are now, all, closed and abandoned, leaving very little resources and very few people now working this beautiful stone. To begin with, I work the collected rock with industrial tools, in an open field. Back in my workshop the pieces are finished using hand tools, and, finally, polished with the hands. Distinctive to my style is keeping the rough stone on the reverse, then smoothing and polishing the front, with shapes and inserts inspired by the neolithic, tribal, Egyptian, African, and Indian Art , along with the rugged shorelines and cliffs that I climb over.
I sell my work through galleries, Open Studios and Exhibitions.
