And in the beginning ……

A life-size dolphin in South African hardwood, was my beginning with wood - a beginning with a story almost as amazing as a real dolphin …..

Jersey, Portugal, Bavaria and now here we were in Tenerife, playing music and singing, Liza and I, the Duo, Two-gether, our way of life for many years. Long, hot sunny days of tennis, swimming and lessons in Watercolours for Liza from Alan, a crazy itinerant English artist in the next village. He was a good teacher, Liza rapidly became a proficient watercolour artist and Alan received a good commission to produce a full-size dolphin figure head for a beautiful solid hardwood boat, being built at the local boatyard to take tourists on 'Dolphin Safari' trips. Tragedy was about to strike ……

10.30am Wednesday, 7^th February 1996, a very distressed Kate, Alan's wife, arrived at our door. Alan it seems was roughing out the Dolphin with a circular saw blade fitted in an angle grinder. A split second of inattention and two and a half fingers of his left hand. roughly severed, lay on the concrete floor. He was flown by helicopter, with severed fingers carefully wrapped and packed in ice, to a specialist micro-surgery hospital in the capital, Santa Cruz, where after eighteen hours of skilled attention they were re-united.

I made a start on March 14^th, in between driving Alan back and forth to hospital for treatment. Much to everybody's surprise, Alan's re-joined fingers did not reject him! But it would be at least six months before he would have any use of them. Tragedy was about to strike for the second time ……

April 15^th after my usual daily swim in the waters off Los Gigantes beech, I tried to shake water from my left ear to no avail. I had a problem hearing clearly at that evening's gig and thought I had an excess of wax. I awoke the next morning, violently sick, no balance, totally deaf in my left ear. After several weeks of antibiotics and then steroids, it was May 8^th, back in Santa Cruz, where a specialist hit me with the bombshell and a shake of his head, "your inner ear has been destroyed, probably by a common cold virus and I am sorry but your deafness is total and permanent in this ear."

Hours spent sculpting the Dolphin were a mental saviour and gave me great pleasure. The 8^th June arrived and after its forth coat of oil, no one was more proud and surprised than me by the final result which now graces the bows of "Flipper Uno" as it sails out and back from Los Gigantes marina every day, with its fair share of excited tourists, to experience the magic of the many Dolphins in this area of Tenerife.

I was hooked. A resident ex-pat persuaded me that I was just the person he had been looking for to sculpt something from this beautiful Eucalyptus tree, felled four years previously when it had out-grown his garden. I spent many hours 'switched off' from my depression, letting this piece of wood lead me, as I worked on it outside in our garden. Many tourists, of all nationalities, stopped to pass encouraging comment and monitor my progress! Kung Fu classes helped restore my balance enormously and the extreme physical exercise was also beneficial to my mental attitude. 'Kung Fu' our Instructor informed me, means 'achievement through effort' so this became the tittle for my first tree-trunk piece, which returned with us to England in May 1997. There is a further remarkable coincidence connected with my 'Dolphin start' and deafness - but that, as they say, is best kept for another time.

Summer and Autumn 1997 were spent in a small garage sculpting, visiting many Arts and Craft shows, acquiring much beautiful wood - Yew, Cherry and almost three ton of Walnut! I now have a 'purpose adapted' self designed studio, out in the countryside near Andover, with 10ft. of headroom and hydraulic lift for really large pieces. My piece 'Kung Fu', made a favourable impression at the Hampshire Sculpture Trust's annual exhibition 1997.

I am currently looking for private companies, corporations and public organisations who would appreciate the beauty of a large sculpture in wood for their reception area or other prestigious site - perhaps to celebrate the new millennium; or as a gift to a valued client? The free publicity to be gained from such an unusual decision can also be invaluable. Think about it, then talk to me! I have some exceptionally fine, large pieces of walnut, yew & cherry to choose from.

Each and every sculpture I produce is truly unique and can never be reproduced, or copied, as the final 'design' is always dependant on what I find as the piece is worked.

Each piece 'evolves', as I discover perhaps a knot, a flaw, rot, outstanding colours or figuring - working in sympathy with the way the wood grew, to expose it's maximum beauty and to create sculpture of curvaceous elegance. Cracks and flaws are perfectly normal in this type of work. This is not bland constructional timber. As with all wood, it will not continue to look its best if you expose it to extremes of temperature, humidity or strong sun!

have created together.