In
the Autumn of 2003 Nick was awarded a commission to
carve a stone sculpture inspired by the gardens of
Dillington House in Somerset. Here he describes his
inspiration for the stone carving. “During the residency I made several visits to
the gardens at Dillington House and spent time in both
the formal garden and the Wilderness, observing and photographing.
I was inspired by several forms: pine cones on the woodland
floor, the swirling shapes of the bark of the trees,
the massed arrangements of flowers and leaves on plants
and bushes. But it was the weeping willow tree on the
boundary between the Wilderness and the formal garden
that kept drawing me back. The thick curtains of hanging
slender leaf laden branches enclosed a magical space.
In October and November the ground below the tree was
a mass of colour as the leaves fell and randomly arranged
themselves to create wonderful patterns. This carving
represents the feeling of being under the willow tree
looking out through the branches and curtain of leaves
as they begin to fall in autumn”. The relief panel is carved in Ancaster limestone from
Lincolnshire which is a close grained cream coloured
stone and takes the fine detail necessary for the carving.
The rectangular panel is set out as a Golden Rectangle
which is a proportion which has been used by artists,
designers and architects for hundreds if not thousands
of years. It also occurs in nature in the proportions
of the nautilus shell. The spiral border is a decorative
motif that has been used by many cultures around the
world and to me symbolises the energy and dynamics of
growth. The carving was completed in January 2004 and
is situated in the semicircular seating alcove in the
main garden of Dillington House. After an apprenticeship in stone masonry at Canterbury
Cathedral, Nick studied carving at the City and Guilds
of London Art School in Kennington, London. His stone
carvings are inspired by natural forms, geometry and
ancient Indian and Romanesque sculpture. >Commissions page 2: Life-size Paranirvana Buddha Statue |
