You can sit down on some of my previous commissions! These are the oak benches that I have made, which usually have carved backrests.
The one above, from 2015, is in a playground on the Clifton Downs in Bristol. I’m rather proud of the fact that this is the only piece of recent sculpture that has been allowed to be permanently located on the Downs. If you look carefully, you may be able to see the carving of Libby Houston that is mentioned elsewhere in this website.
On the opposite side of the Avon Gorge sits the Downs bench’s older sibling. This one was commissioned by the National Trust in 2009 to celebrate the centenary of Leigh Woods being given to the Trust and sits on the ramparts of Stokeleigh Camp, an Iron Age hill fort. The carvings on the backrest refer to the history and wildlife of that incredible location and the oak timber that was used to make the bench grew and was milled onsite. The fascinating process of researching the information needed to create the carved designs was probably my favourite part of these two bench projects. Both are three metres (almost ten feet) long and each weighs over half a ton.
Another beautiful location to see some of my oak benches is in the gardens of Winterbourne House, part of the University of Birmingham. The three oak benches were commissioned in 2021 and 2022. Each has a memorial inscription carved into the backrest.