New piece, “Magic Prince”. Metal chasing stage.

This fellow was originally playing a flute, and as he neared completion I put him away in a box, largely I think because I could see the process of producing an edition being fraught with difficulty. When I took him out recently to work on him again, I realised that not only would he be easier to cast if he was playing (hare) bells, he would look better too. I now need to alter his arms and hands, but it will be worth it. I’ve also been fiddling with an arrangement of cravat and shirt ruffles, which might end up getting moulded separately and stuck on in the wax stage.

I should either shut this site down or use it, shouldn’t I? This is the 5th Jack in an edition of 8. He has to be cast in two pieces and welded at the knees, then I grind the welds off and carve texture back into the metal using a die grinder and a dental tool. I’ve given him a test patina to make sure I’m happy with the restored texture. He’s now ready for sandblasting and a proper patina.

Cascade Gallery in Maldon has a new exhibition with the theme of Gothic to Sublime,  in parallel with the Goldfields Gothic – Festival of Dark Ideas (1-3 July 2022 in Maldon). The exhibition is open until 31 July, and I have a few pieces in it, in the company of works by Philomena Carroll, Hilary Finch, Terry Taylor, Sharon West, Jill Kempson, Liz Sullivan, Stephen Tester, John O’Loughlin, Julie Andrews, Lydia Poljak, Joel Sorensen, Zoe Amor and Jeff Gardner.

Cascade is located in a historic church at 1A Fountain Street, Maldon, Victoria.  Opening hours are Thurs – Sun from 10 am  to 5 pm. Ph. 0408 844 152

During the festival the gallery is also holding “Drawing the Gothic” workshops for adults and under 16s, which can be booked through the Goldfields Gothic program.

One of my sculptures in the exhibition, The Silent One & The Noisy One:

Remember the Gleeful Horse? Here he is, still smiling, by the talented Alise Muok. I love the unravelling ribbons and how he looks like he belongs to the world of old toys and games.

You can see some of Alise’s science-related art and read about her microbial research at alisemuok.com.

Here’s the first piece of the coloured version of Lovers’ Lane. It will be an edition of eight. I haven’t decided yet whether to stick with blue/green for all of them or vary the colours.

Meet Jack, the new hare around here. He’ll be going to the foundry soon. ‘Here’ is, by the way, Australia. We moved back a few months before Covid happened, so had time to settle in before battening down the hatches.

Two new bronze pieces, “Lovers’ Lane” and “Bluebird”. When I first made the model for Lovers’ Lane it wasn’t holding anything, just gesturing in the air — then eventually the second mask came along. Bluebird’s colour is a pigmented patina. I want to get some better photos, but these will do for now.

Here are the Fabulous Anybodies finished — I had to thicken their legs a bit — and Not a Sausage, and the model for another piece, Birthday Boy: