Original and Unique Sculptures
Handmade in Cliffe. Original, Garden Sculptures for sale, made of recycled and reclaimed materials. Inspired by a holiday a few years ago to a small village in the depths of the Black Forest in Germany, where the Village Smithy had created unique sculptures and art from old unused farm machinery and rocks. I’m an engineer by trade, and kept looking at the sculpture we bought back home and thinking “I reckon I could do that”.
So, in an attempt to keep busy during the lockdown period, I decided to teach myself Blacksmithing, Welding and a little creative art!
Firstly, can I please thank all of you for your support and generosity in giving me your old garden tools, farm implements, bits of metal and old rockeries over the past few months – I couldn’t have done this without you.
I have now made over 17 sculptures and pieces of art, and have unfortunately run out of space in the back garden to keep and display any more. I have had many people watching our front garden with interest, to see my latest creations appear – and many of you have asked me if I’d be willing to sell them. Good news – I either need a bigger garden, or will sadly have to part with some so I have room to carry on creating!
Each sculpture features a carved metal plate with my unique logo on it – indicating that it is a one-of-a-kind original piece of handmade art. A sculpture typically takes a couple of days to create, and involves metalworking on my forge, cutting, welding, drilling and creating – some items have taken longer to create than others, and some items have cost more in parts to create than others. Their prices reflect this.
Normally it takes a couple of weeks, from the initial idea of a sculpture – for it to take form in my head, before I am ready to start making it – other times, one look at an old rusty tool suggests immediately the shape hiding inside it.
All of these are made with up-cycled materials, and for obvious reasons are rusty metal with a few pointy bits – and are intended for use as garden art, not toys. They are intended to age and rust over time, and fit into our outside spaces to add a little visual Entertainment.
They have been fantastic fun to create, and have been named in most cases by my kids. For someone like me, who finds it hard to sit still and do nothing – this was the perfect hobby to take up in this very different and difficult year!
This is their Story - hover over the image to hold the slideshow, or click the relevant dot below the image.
Vulturo - A Vulture on a plinth [NEW 2021]
Among a bit of the local fly tipping, I spotted a dumped concrete base from something, that looked interesting. It weighed an absolute tonne, but a long walk with a wheelbarrow saved the day. I was then donated a pic axe, and also some blades from a piece of farm equipment that looked like wings. After a prolonged session with the forge, angle grinder and welder - Vulturo came into being
Vulturo for sale for £150
The Secret Recipe - A load Chickeny Goodness [NEW 2021]
I found a rock in the middle of February, that looked remarkably like the body of a Chicken. When I found some bits from an old fire grate, and a pair of shears, and some kindly donated bearings - it looked like the perfect Rooster face. I've made a few sculptures where I've laughed with delight at the finished result, and this was one of them (And now the secret recipe is no longer secret!)
The Secret Recipe is for sale for £140
Orion The Archer [NEW 2021]
A collection of plough blades, very kindly donated by Buckland Farm looked like a face, and really appealed to me. During a holiday in France in October, I spied a giant sculpture holding a bundle of arrows - I quite liked the idea of a bunch of arrows, and when I got home I created Orion, he matches very well with Pitch (next page) and I did at one point contemplate them as a pair of gateposts
Orion the Archer is for sale for £120
Pitch The Farmer [NEW 2021]
Again the collection of plough blades, very kindly donated by Buckland Farm were calling to me, and I had a need to make a pair of sculptures that formed a family. Having already created Orion The Archer, I decided to make a farmer holding a pitchform. It's quite suprising how different they two look, just by changing the angle of the face - however they do make a great pair.
Pitch the Farmer is for sale for £110
The Old Croc [NEW 2021]
After being rushed into Hospital in September for the removal of an appendix, I discovered that they were doing a special offer - Free Covid with every operation! With my forced exile at home, and the inability to lift anything - boredom promoted a bit of creative thinking that didn't involve lifting rocks. A pickaxe top became the mouth, and some very kindly donated chains became teeth and tail - Meet one of the Old Crocs
The Old Croc is for sale for £80
Hastur [NEW 2021]
I developed a bit of an obsession with creating a demon with wings, and then really wanted to make a pair of hands out of rebar. He took ages to make, but I think the hands alone are worth the effort. Naming him was a bit difficult, but as I was re-reading Good Omens at the time (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman - read it if you haven't) the name and title seemed right as a tribute.
Hastur is for sale for £190
Ant-onio Ant-Air-Ass - An insect in the family [NEW 2021]
When you have three small rocks that look like the beginings of an Ant, and some re-bar that could become antennae - it's only a matter of time before you escape the holiday festivities, and escape outside to the freezing cold and fire up the forge
Ant-onio Ant-Air_Ass is for sale for £120
Happy New Year!!!! A small herd of Reindeer have now been re-housed.
Twas the season to be jolly, get the forge, angle grinder and welder out - and create some festive reindeer. The reindeer are free standing and are made from horseshoes supplied by those very kind folks at the stables at Buckland Farm. They will also have red noses once the paint arrives.
The Frame of Luck [SOLD]
After 2020, everybody could to with a little luck. The Frame Of Luck is made with a collection of horseshoes kindly donated by the stables at Buckland Farm, some mild steel bar I bought with this in mind, and some rebar to allow it to be pushed into the ground so it can stand up on its own in a Flower Bed.
The Frame of Luck is now with new owners.
Erm..Cupid? [SOLD]
Who do small devils look to, for a bit of help with love – I guess some version of Cupid. Not sure if the demon version would be called Cupid as that seems a little too angelic, so he is known as Erm-Cupid? He comes with his very own Bow and Arrow, made with part of a plough and some generously donated chain. He likes sculking in the flower bed.
Erm Cupid has now move to a new home.
Karrut [SOLD]
Karrut came into being, after the government announced that it was OK to go grouse shooting in a large group, and at a similar time the Black Lives Matter movement started. The human mind is a funny thing, and after seeing rabbit road kill on the way to work – the phrase “Rabbit Lives Matter Too” leapt into my head and wouldn’t go away. What started out as a grouse shooting Rabbit, ended up as the start of the Rabbit Lives Matter movement – it starts here, and watch out he’s got a Gun (Thank you crocodile Dundee 2, which the kids loved during lockdown as well). I particularly like the fact that Karrut needs to visit the dentist, as he has developed a bad Kavity (sic!).
Karrut Has moved in with a new owner.
Lockey
Everyone needs a small devil in their flowerbed carrying a pitchfork. Lockey started life as a Garden Hoe, some old garden railings and a pair of loppers from a generous donor in Cliffe Woods. The pitchfork looked like a set of devils horns, and the rest as they say – is history. Lockey likes hiding in among the bushes and watching life go by.
Lockey is for sale for £80.
Peli [SOLD]
Sometimes the simplest thing inspires a sculpture. I was donated an old toolbox that had been sitting in someone’s shed for many years with a load of old spanners in it. One very rusty pair of grips looked like the beak of a pelican, and on finding a rock that looked like a body, Peli started to take shape. He then needed a rock to sit on and the rest of his features. With thanks to some bits from the stables at Buckland Farm he came into being, and is one of my favourite pieces. Peli likes sitting in the garden possibly near a pond where there are lots of tasty fish. Peli is leaving home in a few weeks, to go and live with new parents.
Peli has already moved out to live with a new family.
Wuzzo [SOLD]
Wuzzo was one of my first creations - he was made with a pair of old shears, some parts of old railings and a lot of swearing.
Wuzzo has already found a nice home to live in.
Merde
Is a complete load of old bull! Inspired by a post lockdown meal in a Miller and Carter Restaurant where they had very large sculpture of a Bull outside. One thing led to another, and after finding a bit of metal that looked like it belonged in a Bulls nose and some eyes that were perfect for the job he came into being.
Merde is for sale for £130.
Gruff
Gruff was born shortly after Merde – as someone pointed out that my bulls face looked very much like the mythical minotaur, as they felt I had done the horns wrong (Cheek!). I then found a scythe in among my old tools – and set out to create some form of grim reaper! It wasn’t to be – as the first child who saw Gruff told me I’d actually created my own version of the Gruffalo – so my Reaper became Gruff. Gruff is standing on a rock, and I have placed a metal rod underneath that pushes into the soil below to give it a more support, as such he won’t stand on a patio.
Gruff is for sale for £160.
Gnom
Not under any circumstances to be confused with a Gnome – which are small brightly painted beardy people with funny hats who live in groups at the bottom of Gardens. Gnom is small, devilish and is carrying a scythe which he uses to hunt Gnomes. He doesn’t play well with other Gnomes (obviously) and would be better suited in a garden on his own.
Gnom is for sale for £50.
Rocky [SOLD]
We had new railings back in May, and a piece of the old railings got a little bent and looked a bit like the start of an owl’s face – with the addition of the top of a pair of secateurs and some old Farm Machinery from the horse drawn era – Rocky was born. He’s carrying his own pitchfork, so is more than happy to help out in the flowerbeds. Rocky will be emigrating to a new country in a few weeks, to live with new parents.
Rocky is now planning on emigrating, and moving in with new owners in a foreign land.
In-C [SOLD]
A pair of old shears fell of my pile of Sculpture body parts and I almost tripped over it one evening when walking to the shed – it was laying in the grass looking like a pair of pincers from some form of giant Spider. The weekend after, In-C was born – unfortunately, unlike his namesake in the nursery rhyme, In-C is too large to fit up the water spout – but he does like sitting in a flower bed waiting for a nice juicy fly to land.
In-C has now been sold, and is pictured here at his new home.
Glaucus
I was donated a Ploughshare in early May, to this day I’m not entirely sure what a Ploughshare really does – other than being an essential part of a Plough. It is an unusual shape, and as a result spent quite a while just sitting there while I tried to work out where it belonged – at one point I almost had it reserved for some form of Christmas Elf type sculpture – but when you spend most weekends making devilish sculptures for all year round use, a Christmas elf just doesn’t cut the mustard. One day I turned it over, and it looked like a pointy stool – and at that point I started to wonder what a demon would do on his/her day off. Go fishing for devil fish seemed the appropriate answer, and at that point the forge was fired up, and out of the fire came Glaucus. He even has a small horned fish on the end of his line. Glaucus is the name of the Greek god of Fishing. He would very much like to sit by a pond, but would be settle for a loving family.
Glaucus is for sale for £180.
A Frame of Spanners [SOLD]
Someone very generously gave me a pile of very rusty spanners. As I have found over the past few months, it doesn’t matter how rusty it is – a few minutes in the fire of the forge, and it can be re-purposed quite easily. Not only this - but as we had fitted new railings outside our house, I had something I could use for a frame without resorting to buying metal. Making some form of wall art picture out of them worked really well. It would even work inside the house as a very unusual piece of art.
The Frame of Spanners has now been sold.
How they are made - Part 1
I became the proud owner of a two burner Devil-Forge back in March, and this (along with a very fetching leather apron) has been essential in learning how to make sculptures. When new railings were fitted outside the front of my house, I suddenly had a wealth of rusty old metal that I could experiment with. After a few days heating stuff up, hitting it with a mallet using a piece of railway track as an anvil I'd mastered the basics.
How they are made - Part 2
I am fortunate to work in an engineering environment, and we've had an "Top Weld 140" Arc-welder gathering dust on the shelf since the 1980's. Once I had bought this home, and purchased a new self-darkening weldings mask (these are brilliant) I started cutting metal with angle grinder and welding various parts together to create faces, arms and features - before long I'd moved on to creating a replica-rifle for Karrut so he could go Grouse-shooting. Pictured here is the face of Erm-Cupid? under construction.
Can I see a sculpture in the Flesh (or the Iron & Stone)?
It is Christmas, and a collection of sculptures are currently having a non-socially distanced party in the front garden of 4 Higham Road in Cliffe.
If you are interested in purchasing a sculpture or a piece of garden art - they range in price from £25 to £190.
If you live on the Hoo Peninsula, in particular Cliffe - and have any old garden tools you don't want, or anything else that you think could be turned into a sculpture please contact me.
In the current time, where we are unable to travel out over the weekends - I am keeping myself very busy, so please keep checking back to see any new creations.
I have been asked a couple of times whether I'd consider making a sculplture out of old tools that people had inherited from family members, that have been lying around in sheds unused. If you have an idea, and something old and rusty - I'm more than happy to discuss it.
You can contact me on 07969 440930, or alternatively email Cerberus - Maker and Guardian of Demons. Cerberus in Greek mythology, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld. (aka the hound of Hades. In this case aka James!)
Last updated 01Dec21 13:30