About title

I am 23 years old and I am currently studying to be a key stage 3/4 art teacher. I first started stone carving at school when a group of African artists from Zimbabwe visited my local school to run a workshop, which was funded by the lottery. These men were third generation artists from the African stone carving movement, their belief is that of their ancestors; there is a spirit trapped inside the stone and it is our job to release it.

I have artistic grandparents and they had a collection of tools that they gave me to further my carving skills, I then carved religiously using the African stones Opal and Serpentine and I went on to receive many commissions from family and friends. It also turned out that 'Renate Braimah', owner of AfricArt gallery lived round the corner from my home. This was a perfect opportunity for me as it meant I could buy stone from her to allow myself to carry on carving. I would also join in with her very enjoyable weekend workshops during the Brighton 'open house' festival. It was here I built relationships with the African artists and learnt a great deal about their beliefs and culture as well as new and exciting carving techniques that I often put in to practice now.

I carried on stone carving during my A levels and art foundation year. I was then offered an unconditional place at Leeds Metropolitan University to study Fine Art. I found this a valuable and immensely enjoyable three years, not only did I massively further my skills, I met lots of artists and tried my hand at many materials. In my final year I produced a final exhibition of stone carvings which proved very successful.

After graduating, I moved to Madrid to teach English as a foreign language and realized it is a fantastic place to live as an artist. My parents very kindly set up an exhibition during the Brighton festival and sold 3 of my degree show sculptures. I then returned home to apply for an Art and Design P.G.C.E and was successful in doing so. I continue to stone sculpt today as much as ever and have a large collection of tools and unfinished carvings.