To get to the final piece of art, especially when it is sculptural, takes weeks of design and planning. From the idea of creating a 'shoal' of mackerel onto a natural base, thinking about numbers (always got to be an odd number in my personal opinion), what size should they be, in what order, and how to select the piece of wood that will naturally allow the shape of a shoal to work.
Once the basics are done, mackerel all cut, enamelled, coloured and fired, and the piece of wood is selected, then it is time to play around so that the different sizes of the fish work together. Next, time to get to work on the wood. The bog wood was dragged out of the Looe river around 25 years ago and has been laying around waiting for its perfect glass partners...wait is now over!
Work now starts on the wood. Firstly, blasted with water to get all the loose bits off, then sanded down to create a smoother finish. Finally, a treatment of wax to finish the wood to a stunning presentation. Then, replace the fish and they are ready to go to a forever home.