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Text supplied by Marji Talbot
Sussex Sculpture Studios
Can you remember where you were in the summer of 2007? Looking back, they were halcyon days...
At that time, Andrew Brown and I joined forces - with our combined experiences of teaching in sixth form schools and adult education, respectively - to provide a dedicated open studio space that would welcome anyone with an interest in creating sculpture. So began Sussex Sculpture Studios. Such was the demand and interest, that twice we had to find larger premises.
In 2012 we moved into our present location in Billingshurst, West Sussex. As well as increasing our facilities and equipment, we expanded our range of courses by inviting other sculptors to teach: Thea Taylor set up a weekly soft stone carving course and Hazel Reeves, who I’d met through a Surrey Sculpture Society event, became our specialist in portrait sculpture.
We also had great fortune to work with other professionals such as Jon Edgar, more recently, figurative sculptor Mark Longworth and painter Ben Laughton Smith.
In 2017, Andrew left our partnership to work on three large public commissions, finally moving to his native Scotland to set up his own studio.
In addition to drawing, painting and sculpting from a life model, most of our work to date has been with fired clay (we have an industrial-size kiln), cold cast resin, Jesmonite and stone. We are now able to help with expertise in steel fabrication and bronze-casting.
a potted history
From Sussex Sculpture Studios to
Art Junction Online
Fast forward to 16 March 2020 and the studio became a veritable Marie Celeste scenario with tools downed overnight and abandoned projects scattered along the benches.
I closed the studio a week before the government announcement to safeguard everyone’s health, not thinking that it would still be an ongoing situation a year later with our second full lockdown.
But artists are resourceful and, following the example of other organisations, we’ve launched a new online venture
www.patreon.com/artjunction.uk
with the aim to support our community of studio artists.
With everyone in isolation we wanted to keep people going creatively at home, as well as providing some employment to models and tutors.
To make this happen our team, consisting of Hazel, Ben and Mark, expanded to include casting wizard Chaz Wyman, who’d also been teaching regularly at the Studio after Andrew’s departure, and Michael Joseph who works with a more abstracted approach to figurative art.
We also welcomed painter Fleur Cowgill, writer Al Campbell (publicity), and writer and art history graduate Rosie Talbot.
The experience and range of our tutors is as diverse as the subjects and mediums they cover.
For more information visit:
www.artjunction.uk