Animal Magic:
Down on the Farm with the Sculpture Lounge
By Christine Pike
I don’t often go on courses as group tuition isn’t
my thing – too many bad memories of school, I think! However,
I am all too aware that enthusiasm can only get you so far and that,
sometimes, the guidance of an expert hand can make all the difference
to the progress of your work. So, it was with mixed feelings of
hope and terror that I signed up for a four-day course with Brendan
Hesmonhalgh at The Sculpture Lounge, just outside Holmfirth.
I had been mulling over the idea for a couple of years, actually;
ever since I first saw David Cooke’s amazing wildlife sculptures
at Art in Clay and picked up one of his leaflets. And, having spoken
to some people, I soon established that there is a well trodden
path between East Anglia and this particular corner of the Peak
District. In fact, when I arrived, I met another member of Anglian
Potters, who had come up from Norfolk like me, and who has been
on several courses with the Sculpture Lounge.
We spent our first morning familiarizing ourselves with the studio
space where we would be working, and we were introduced to the mould-making
studio, which is the domain of Martin Norman. Martin makes bronze
and bronze resin castings for Brendan and David, as well as several
other well-known sculptors, including one of my favourites, Paul
Smith. It was a rare treat to watch him work and to be able to ask
questions about the various moulding processes involved –
and, I gather that Martin will be offering courses himself in the
coming year.
After a good lunch we were each instructed to make one or several
maquettes of our chosen animal. We had been given the brief beforehand
and the suggested subject for this course was a farmyard animal,
although this was not prescriptive, and those who had an entirely
different kind of creature in mind were encouraged to follow their
own idea.
Not having tacked any kind of animal standing on four legs before,
I felt that a farm animal would be challenge enough and I plumped
for a goat, for no other reason than that I think they have sweet
faces. I came armed with sheaves of photographs I had taken at a
local rare breeds farm and, as the week progressed, was grateful
for the preparation I had done. My first attempt, however, was not
a success: never having worked this way before, I think I tried
to put too much detail into my model, with the result that I completely
forgot to put it in an interesting pose or give it any ‘life’.
I then spent a sleepless night fretting and fearing that I was going
to be spending the next three days struggling and fighting to get
anything out of the clay.
I buttonholed Brendan at morning coffee the following day and
basically threw myself on his mercy, explaining that I hated what
I had done so far and had no idea how to get back on track.
“There’s always one on every course!” he responded,
cheerfully, before talking me through what I liked/disliked about
my maquette and what I wanted to achieve from the final sculpture.
He encouraged me to play around with the clay and make a few more
studies; experiment with different attitudes and really look at
the way a goat is put together in real life. He didn’t have
to say it, but I knew how much I have neglected my sketch books
in recent years, and resolved to get into good habits of life drawing
when I got back to my own studio, since there is no more certain
key to successful sculpting than to be completely familiar with
your subject.
The majority of day two was taken up with making the body, which
Brendan feels is the most important part and which enables the rest
of a piece to come together more easily. There were three choices
of clay on offer, all of which were grogged stoneware. One, which
I didn’t try,(maybe next time!), fires to a rich chocolatey
black and has almost the appearance of being wood-fired.
Brendan showed us a slab building technique to make a hollow structure,
which is then pushed gently from the inside to build out the shape
of belly, backbone, upper thighs, etc. I had seen Elaine Peto demonstrate
something similar before at a show, so was familiar with the idea
in principle – putting it into practice was quite a different
matter, however, and I was surprised at how long it took to get
my clay cylinder to resemble the body of a pot bellied goat.
We were taught by a combination of formal group demonstration
and individual tuition and, with the Sculpture Lounge only taking
a small number of students on each course, Brendan was able to get
around to everyone quite comfortably. He is definitely a natural
teacher and knows instinctively when to intervene and when to stand
back and let you work something out for yourself. He is also good
at pushing you to achieve just that little bit more than you thought
yourself capable of. Over the four days I saw a variety of pieces
take shape, from a pig to a hare, to an ambitious water feature
involving a flock of guinea fowl, and a lively sculpture of the
Musicians of Bremen – and each one was completely individual
and reflected the personality of its maker, rather than being pale
imitations of Brendan’s own work.
Days three and four were taken up with the making of limbs and
head. Like the body, these are made from hollow slabs of clay and
Brendan showed us how to create wrinkles, paw pads, and even fur
texture, by scoring the clay from behind and then pushing it gently
into shape. The most difficult thing to learn was how to do this
without handling the clay too much and losing what he calls the
“clayness” of the clay.
My goat came together quite quickly once I had got his back legs
on and there was something of an end of term feeling on the last
day, with everyone putting the finishing touches to their pieces.
There was much hilarity and ribald discussion about the size of
a boy piglet’s ‘bits’, which Brendan and the only
male student on the course wisely kept out of!
I came on this course because I wanted to learn how to sculpt
more freely and, having seen Brendan’s work before and admired
his style, felt that I could learn a lot from him. I took away with
me far more than I could have hoped for: a renewed confidence, a
fresh perspective, and memories of an exhilarating week in the company
of many talented people. I will definitely go back again and, next
time, I shall take full advantage of the Sculpture Lounge’s
facilities and generous stock of clay and make something really
big… a life-sized water buffalo, perhaps?...
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