It was an exciting day on Friday. I found out that the powder coaters had finished working on my sculpture and I arranged for it to be delivered. I had to race from work to meet the delivery team at my studio where they were dropping off the work.
The powder coating has been the only process through the making of this piece that I have handed over to someone else to do. However it has been necessary because I do not want the sculpture to rust over the next year when it is installed at Broomhill. I have always wanted to have something powder coated because of the vibrant smooth colour that can be achieved. The Broomhill National Sculpture Prize has enabled me to finally experiment with powder coating and I am really pleased with the result.
I chose two different finishes for the sculpture. The main body is coated in a clear matt lacquer. I wanted to keep the original colour of the steel to act as a neutral between the three coloured elements in the piece. The lacquer has made the steel colour deeper, which I hadn’t anticipated but I am really happy about. I chose the clear lacquer was because I like the burn marks from the different processes I used in constructing the sculpture such as plasma cutting and welding. I am interested in showing these processes in the work as it is a really important part of the development of the piece. I prefer to make as much of my own work as possible because so many decisions are made while I am cutting a shape out or welding sections together. My sculptures always change a huge amount  from the original drawing or plan once I have started making them. I mistake with the plasma cutter might lead to a really interesting shape and this might change the whole piece.
One change I have made to my original plan for the work is that I have made the ‘Moss’ a separate entity from the main body. This was because I decided it needed some space from the main body. I want to play around with the positioning of the ‘Moss’ when I am on site and installing. Making it a separate section has also allowed me to powder coat it in a bright yellow to contrast to the steel and work with the red and blue pieces.
I finally finished the main steel body of the sculpture today. The most challenging part of this was creating two joints in the structure that would allow me to take the sculpture apart for transport, but be very strong when bolted together. Once this was finished I was able to weld on the steel uprights which will be supports for the wooden elements that will be attached. Â These I positioned thinking about multiple viewpoints of the sculpture. I am interested in how I can create several different images within the work depending on where the viewer stands. I also want there to be an element of discovery in viewing the work, how when you move around it you will see a new colour or form.
The work has grown much larger than I anticipated, I think the final length will be approximately 5m.
Once the uprights were welded on I then cut out using a plasma cutter the steel shapes that will be welded onto the uprights and will then be the means off attaching the wooden characters. Using a plasma cutter is a very much like drawing  and therefore I feel that I am finding a shape in the steel as I draw it out. It is a very inventive way of working with metal.
The steel plates were then welded onto the main structure and I was able to work on the element that will represent a moss. This is made from steel pipe that I have bent into a form that hopefully gives the impression that the metal is feeling out into the space.
My last task for the day was to weld onto the underside of all four sections the reinforcement bar that will be sunk into the ground and act as an anchor for the work while it is on display at Broomhill.
I have used the fantastic facilities at the London Sculpture Workshops to do all of the metalwork for the sculpture and the team there has been extremely helpful during the development of the piece.
Now the steel is ready to be taken to be coated.
I had a great day in my studio yesterday choosing the colours and shapes that I will use in the final sculpture. I use relief ink on sculptures such as theses because the colour is very intense with lots of pigment. It is a bit of an experiment using printing ink on a sculpture that will be outside, but I will just have to wait and see how the colour reacts over the 12 months it will be on display. Using ink also gives me the option of creating a print from the sculpture. I am interested in how my sculptures can also be tools for making other images. The idea that I can create a second two dimensional object of this work in the form of a print is very interesting to me as I often think about how creating objects that represent creatures or structures in nature can also be a form of collecting specimens. The specimens being characters from a world that I am creating in the work.
As well as working on the metal structure I have also been drawing out and cutting the wooden forms that will be attached to the metal body. These wooden shapes will represent an organism and a rocky outcropping. I worked out the shapes by looking at the grain of the wood reacting to any interesting inconsistencies in the surface of the marine ply as well as trying to find a satisfying form.
I have spent two intensive days in the metal workshop this week, working on the main steel body of the sculpture. I have mainly been working on the joints that will allow the sculpture to be taken apart for transport, but be very strong for when the sculpture is up.
