Come and see us at ART MATERIALS LIVE at the NEC (http://www.ichf.co.uk/artmaterials/) from 8 - 11th November 2012!

We will be giving daily sculpture demonstrations & exhibiting our sculptures, as well as selling Sinclair Sculpture Tools and promoting The Sculpture School. This is the first time we have taken part and the first time sculpture has been included in the exhibition!

           Where do I begin?....

We have been so busy since returning from Thailand that blogging went right off my horizon! Our absence for the whole of January was a brilliant mixture of business (tool manufacturer research) and pleasure, visiting family & friends who live there, and us taking time out to be tourists. It was wonderful to disappear to the warmth of Thailand during the post-Christmas gloom, and a great opportunity to restore our creative juices!

And we’re back with a bang! Since early February we have had an amazing time. We’ve run four very successful Sculpture School Workshops and had some very happy students returning to us for their second, third and fourth courses. That’s pretty good I reckon!

Especially exciting for us was taking The Sculpture School into The Royal Grammar School in Guildford, Surrey on 7^th March, where we ran a One Day Workshop in Portrait Sculpture for the 6^th Form A level students. It was a real pleasure for us to teach the boys who were genuinely lovely, intelligent, fun guys. Their achievements in just one day were quite awesome, they were focussed and interested and worked really hard without their normal school breaks! 

You can see from the picture how well they did! It suggests that Andy’s teaching is very powerful and effective, don’t you think?

To see our students’ progress in more detail, please go to our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/TheSculptureSchool where you can see their sculptures from start to finish. I’m now the chief photographer as well as Girl Friday!

Our students come from far and wide, travelling from Cheshire, Leicestershire, Dorset & the Home Counties, as well as nearby. Also from many different backgrounds: from chain-saw carving, property development, video film production, and health-visiting to students and established sculptors. The jeweller who made Damien Hurst’s jewelled skull also joined us this month to learn about sculpting in clay – most of his design work is computer based, so he loved getting his hands dirty and learning practical clay based skills.

Our fame is spreading across the globe, slowly but surely, with enquiries and bookings coming in from Sweden, Germany and Brazil!

To find out more: please call me on 07810 480884 or at the studio on 01296 620099.

Come and see us at The Living Crafts Festival at Hatfield House on 10^th – 13^th May – look out for The Sculpture School marquee! http://www.livingcrafts.co.uk/

 Diane Coates.

Advanced Sculpture Techniques at The Sculpture School

We have had a great time this week at the studio – running, for the first time, our Advanced Sculpture Techniques Course – from Monday to Thursday. What a great way to learn; total immersion in a busy sculpture studio, surrounded by art and sculpture, an amazingly equipped workshop, and masterful teaching by Andy, where his 20 years of sculpture experience is condensed into four days! Not to mention our stunning countryside views, when seen through the autumn mists, and the diligent and generous service from the hostess trolley dolly (me)!

Our students are so lucky to experience our unique ‘anatomy in the raw’ sessions, where we teach anatomy and physiology on a life-model. We have so much to teach the students, and over-ran on the anatomy section this time because our female life-model had such amazing muscles we got carried away drawing all over her! There are approximately 36 muscles that we feel are vital for sculptors to know, and Andy uses a kohl eye-pencil (yes, really) to draw what, where and how muscles feature in the body. That may sound bizarre, but illustrating muscles on a real naked body is completely fascinating, and so much more interesting than a dry old text-book!

The students are always entranced. It makes us realise how utterly privileged we are to be artists and sculptors, where studying the naked human form is an honour and joy – how many people can say that about their everyday work?!! And even our models are amazed by how much they learn when they are posing for our Figurative Course, as our professional model said this week: “No other art classes (whether they are in drawing, painting or sculpture) offer such a fun, unique and in-depth approach to teaching anatomy for artists – it was fascinating!”

We think we have enough material to fill a year’s diploma course, as well as a massive coffee-table book on sculpture techniques – watch this space for developments! On this occasion however, we finished on the fourth day. Surprisingly exhausted by the amount of concentration required, the students left laden with goodies: armatures, semi complete sculptures, diagrams and manuals etc. etc. It is always a delight to welcome new people to The Sculpture School as they bring a varied wealth of life-experience and talent to the studio, and they gain so much inspiration from what we teach – and they never fail to be impressed by Andy’s skill and masterful teaching (honestly)! Take a look at http://www.freddieontheplinth.co.uk/  and www.phoenixstudio.co.uk  to see what our students are up to.

Exciting news! Andy and I have been working on the development of his Sinclair Sculpture Tools range, and we are hoping to get the first prototypes made in the next month. We already have a few orders lined up; the anticipation is mounting as we can’t wait to see them!

So, coming soon to The Sculpture School, a range of beautiful, high quality and superbly tactile sculpture tools……

CHRISTMAS GIFTS….. Don’t forget that we have gift vouchers available! If you need ideas for presents, either for yourself or family and friends, we have the answer right here…. Call Diane on 01296 620099 or 07810 480884 to order your gift voucher in time for Christmas, they are valid for a year and are valued at £375.00.

We hope to be welcoming more new-comers to The Sculpture School over the next few weeks…there are still spaces on some of our scheduled courses, so please call us if you would like to join in on the ultimate creative experience!

Diane Coates.

Sculptor & Co-founder of The Sculpture School

The gloriously sunny first weekend in October saw The Sculpture School hosting another popular Figurative Sculpture workshop at our studios in Wendover. What a great weekend too! 

Our students came from far and wide, with some staying at the local inn in Wendover village, others travelling from nearby villages. Our studios are on a farm, with stunning views of the green rolling Chiltern Hills, so not only do our students enjoy the delights of sculpture, it’s an all-round aesthetic experience with the beauty of the countryside!

It is always a pleasure to welcome new faces and to have the opportunity to light the fires of sculpture passion! And especially exciting when a student with absolutely zero experience in 3D creation or sculpture totally embraces the experience, and discovers a new talent. 

I’m sure he won’t mind me saying this…..One of this weekend’s students had bid for The Sculpture School Figurative Workshop (which we had donated to a charity auction) in a slightly drunken moment, ably abetted by his equally libacious friends – and the lovely man had no idea what was in store for him, and was a little concerned about his lack of art ability. He LOVED it – the whole experience, from photographing the model, the live anatomy and physiology lesson where Andy literally draws on the model, to the armature making, clay modelling and sculpting. It is so rewarding to see someone absorb the teaching with such enthusiasm and to know that they have been inspired to create!

What is so great about the way Andy teaches is that students of all abilities and experience learn so much. Our other students consisted of people with a few years of sculpture behind them, to others who were talented professionals or art teachers; however because Andy teaches with a true passion and authority that stems from his 20 years in the commercial sculpture world, he is teaching systems and techniques that enhance people’s existing talents and skills.

Some examples of our students’ comments are a true testimony to the value of our Sculpture School courses:

“There was for me a true sense of a master joyfully sharing his precious secrets – Truly inspirational!” G.Scott

“What a great way to spend a weekend. Sculpture is fun, sexy, frustrating, sensual and tiring – just like a good woman!!!” J. Fletcher.

“The course is amazing- so clearly explained and demonstrated. Andy has passed on so much information and this would have been impossible to achieve from books.” J.Hibbert

“I have really enjoyed this weekend – the best I can remember.” F. Priest

“I really enjoyed myself, it was a delight to spend time immersed in the work with like-minded people and I feel that I have taken away a great deal.  I was very grateful for Andy's clear, concise and patient approach, as I was a bit anxious to start with. I love the work you both do and it has given me a boost to keep going.” M Jascienska.

SO, PLEASE COME AND JOIN US FOR OUR NEXT SCULPTURE WORKSHOP (PORTRAIT SCULPTURE) ON 29^TH & 30^TH OCTOBER – YOU’RE WORTH IT!!

Diane Coates.

Wow, things have been so busy at the studio, that it’s been almost impossible to put pen to paper! We are so excited, as this week saw the launch of our video ‘Marionette’s Conundrum’ on You-Tube: http://www.youtube.com/  

It’s the culmination of 18 months’ work and planning and is a cyber-space showcase for Andrew Sinclair’s sculptures, and features members and friends of the studio. Check us out!!

On the sunny weekend of the 9^th & 10^th of April we welcomed more students to the studio for Module 01, the Figurative Sculpture & Armature Making Course. For the first time in months we were able to entertain our guests without the aid of an industrial jet propelled heater! Actually, that’s not quite true…..we did have to blast a little extra heat out for our gorgeous life model Cecilia, who posed nude for the photography session and anatomy demonstration. Her goosebumps were almost bigger than her muscles whilst Andy was illustrating, with a stage make-up crayon, the delineation of her gastronemius and sartorius musculature!

At The Sculpture School we always feature a life model for the teaching of anatomy and physiology. It literally brings to life a subject that we feel is essential to the creation of beautiful sculpture. We highlight those important bones and muscles that are key to building the sensuous ‘hooks’ that allow us to read the sculpture. It’s a fun approach to teaching what can be an academically dense subject; and even the models are amazed by how much they learn whilst posing. We do ensure that all the stage make-up is removed before they head home on public transport – or eyes may turn at their bizarre anatomical tattoos!

The Sculpture School students also have the opportunity to ask the model to pose in a style of their choice during the photographic session, where they learn the best way to perfect model photography for reference purposes. These images are used later, once the armatures have been made.

Andy’s individual approach to teaching means that our students benefit from skills and techniques he has developed for himself over his 17 years in the commercial sculpture business. His method of creating armatures is totally unique, and our students are always impressed by their effectiveness, and the speed at which he makes them. Once mastered, the armatures are quick and simple to make, but like anything new, quite a fun challenge to begin with! Think ‘Generation Game’ and you’ll get the picture! Andy always demonstrates his clay techniques for sculpting the figure, and the intricacies of sculpting hands and feet with masterly skill. Even I still look on in wonder, and I’ve had the benefit of working alongside him for over 5 years!

Not only do we inspire our students at The Sculpture School, but we also have a very sociable time too. Departing to our local pub for lunch (especially when sunny and we can sit in the garden) always gives us time to socialise and chat. It’s a great opportunity to get to know everyone more informally, and time to debate the state of the nation, art education and all that!

By the end of workshop, The Sculpture School students are usually amazed by the amount of information they have taken on board, and stagger home exhausted, laden with armatures, sculptures, and bits of clay bodies, as well as the course manuals and cd’s. A really successful and enjoyable weekend was had by all.

Our next weekend workshop at The Sculpture School, is Module 02, Portrait Sculpture and is scheduled of the weekend of 21^st and 22^nd May 2011.

If you would like to book your place, please call me NOW!  DIANE COATES . 07810 480884. Course Administrator, The Sculpture School.

Well since my last entry a great deal has happened as usual. I had a wonderfully restful two weeks in Mallorca, enjoying a very quiet and remarkably unchallenging time. Usually my holidays are full of adventures but this time the pace of work over the last few months had knocked the stuffing out of me. So I just enjoyed the sense of quiet recovery. Mallorca is such a beautiful island when you manage to get away from the touristy hot spots, the plasma TV’s and brightly painted English football supporters!

Back home heralded an immediate dash to get the coin finished for the Royal Mint short listing. It’s been a fascinating and I have to say, difficult journey, to get this particular job done. Hugely enjoyable though and I was actually pleased with the results. So if I don’t win the competition I shall be able to console myself with the knowledge that I really did my best.