Surf's Up!

This piece all came together around a curved piece of driftwood sourced from the R. Trent and because of the extremely unlikely event of finding another piece of driftwood with the same shape, it will remain a unique piece.

Surf's Up! It is typical of a lot of my work in that it slowly evolved over time. My first instinct was to fit a clock face to it, but clocks are boring so it had to be different, much different. So although it may look like a clock, it isn't, not really. It's a surf indicator. Yes there are clock hands on it but no numerals. There are two reasons for this. The first is that we've all had the image of a clock face imprinted inside our heads since we were about 5 years old so we should know where the numbers are. The second is that it's fitted with a time and tide movement, the long hand indicating high and low tide. And what's more important, the ticking of the clock, or knowing when surf's up?
Each individual element of the overall design is intended to pursue this theme within the recreated environment of a breakwater.
wave detail Originally the clock face was going to be a single wave, until a jewellery designer friend suggested I use multiple wave shapes. This worked far better, giving a view of waves increasing in height as high tide approaches. The wave shapes were cut from scrap copper sheet and soldered together, the wire stitches reinforce the joints and echo the ones on the posts and the two stones indicating high and low tide. The face was then sand blasted and coloured with a gas torch. A fine line of sand was glued to the leading edges of the waves to hide the solder and give a little depth.
seaweed detail The posts are pieces of gorse root sourced from Studland Bay in Dorset and, like the driftwood, have been left unfinished to keep the whole piece as natural as possible. The posts have been wired to the driftwood and tension applied by the insertion of thin slices of gorse root between the posts and the driftwood. Sand has been glued over these at the front to hide them and give the effect of sand blown up against the breakwater. The seaweed is real and was collected already dried out from the Linconshire coast some years ago.
lapis lazuli detail The stones used to represent high and low tide were sourced from a local craft shop which specialises in fossils, minerals and semi-precious stones. Their shapes and colours were chosen to echo waves and sand. High tide is indicated by the smooth piece of lapis lazuli, and low tide by a rough chunk of orange calcite. And that is 'Surf's Up!' Much more than just a clock.


To purchase this piece please email me at alkemyartanddesign@yahoo.co.uk

Celtic Bowl

This piece was made from the bottom of a copper hot water cylinder like the one below. The pic on the left shows the outside of the tank and the pic on the right, the inside after several years of sitting in someone's hot water system.

But by the time I'd finished with it I had a very nice 'Celtic Bowl' like this.

The spiral design is mirror finish and the background has had a deep bronze patina applied. The stand is made from sheet copper and the same bronze patina applied. The whole piece has then had two coats of Renaissance wax to protect the different finishes.

These can be made to order with a design of your choice.

To purchase this piece or to have one made with your own design on please email me at: alkemyartanddesign@yahoo.co.uk