In my practice, I tend to use plaster which I love, and the sculptures I make are then cast into bronze or bronze resin.
During the process of making I use wire to get the overall form in place and then plaster and scrim to make up the body of the work. Many times I’ve noticed how the lines of the wire make beautiful forms in their own right and in many ways reflect quite closely what I want to portray.
Wire in itself would not be strong enough to make the work I have in mind so I was drawn to the idea of using steel. My welding skills were fairly basic so I cast my eyes around for a course to brush them up to start realising my dream.
I found this amazing course under David Stewart http://davidstewartsculpture.co.uk/ at Central Saint Martins, London which was essentially a course on using metal for sculpture and as well as mig welding, we learnt to use bending and folding machines, a chop saw and plasma cutter amongst other things.
I made a number of things as a way of practising my skills and have become confident enough to order up my own welder and some steel supplies for my own studio – how exciting, I can hardly wait to get going!
This is one part in making my vision come to fruition – next stop English National Ballet at Sadler’s Wells – blog post to follow…
gary scott's sculpture blog 