Work wise, 2011 got off to a very slow start. Just after Christmas I was admitted to hospital with a ruptured appendix and a bad case of septicaemia. It was an unpleasant experience and one which I hope not to repeat too soon. However medical problems at the beginning of the year set one up for a fortuitous rest of the year! Or so goes the Buddhist saying that my South Korean wife Meg quotes... I hope she is right!
But every cloud has its silver lining. Five days into my stay at hospital, my wife Meg was in the room next door to mine giving birth to our first baby girl, Diana. The three of us being confined so close together gave me a magical opportunity to spend all my time with them both and I am sure contributed to my comparatively quick recovery.
My extended "holiday" has slowly transformed into something approaching my old work ethic. January and February were an effort. Work was more obligation than inspiration.
March, however, found me back with a rebound and I have been hard at work putting the finishing touches on a series of 4 miniature sculptures for the Art Gallery of the House of Bruar, one of the most prestigious galleries in Scotland. The centrepiece is "The Duel", a depiction of two rutting stags. One charging, lifting his forelegs as his hindlegs thrust the bulk of his body forward and the other, coming down the hill a little too fast, their antlers locked and his head pushed to one side. through the force of the impact.
I have also, over the last five months, made a series of miniature sculptures for the Eton Fine Art Gallery centring on animals in motion.
A stag in flight portrays a stag fleeing, perhaps from an older stronger stag,jumping over a rise. A Hare in flight portrays a hare, balanced on one hind leg, forelegs locked at the chest and ears flattened by the wind.
These sculptures were delivered at the end of April.