Since then many other commissions have appeared from the Martin Workshops, from tiny buttons representing the universe for a film, and a mould for the original Bully, the “Bull’s Eye “ game show's mascot, to life-size tigers for London Zoo and the Adur Portals by the Shoreham-by-Sea Ferry Bridge.
Do you always cast your own work?
I have attempted to cast the most complex of forms. Even climbing inside them to work the seams with a spot lamp. (Sometimes it pays to be small.) Whenever I have had something cast for me, I haven’t been that happy with the resulting finish etc. Hence, I got back to casting my own works. I find that you learn so much, and see so much, through all the stages of the casting process, and experimenting leads to the development of original sculptures. It’s a magical process: transforming a form, from positive to negative, and then back to positive again.
I have found ways to use the materials in less wasteful ways, allowing me to experiment on larger projects with less weight (and help save the planet of course).
What is your studio like, casting all your own work?
A tardis! My untidy workshop/wildlife garden is something I would have given much for as an aspiring sculptor 40 years ago. It's full of little experimental scraps and forms in a large variety of materials. They are there, aging slowly… against the walls, North, South, East and West, growing moss and lichen in varying degrees. Some plaster masters are pitting beautifully in the acid rain. 40 years ago I wished I had a tardis to travel forward in time to see what would happen to materials in the future. Nowadays a wander down our ramp can find answers to these questions. There are some compensations for aging !
What inspires you now and what might the future hold?
I've never been much of a happy traveller, feeling uprooted away from the materials I want to be using. And I can find plenty of inspiration studying a metre square of a landscape locally with a microscope. I have adjusted to the fact that it's impossible to have time to make all I would wish to. As the saying goes "Creative people don't have mess, they have ideas lying about all over the place". Many of mine will stay prone, and never take shape. It's ok, because I know, from teaching sculpture at City College, Brighton and Northbrook College, Worthing, for over 40 years, that so many students have gone on to create amazing works with their own individual artistic drive. It’s very exciting that this enthusiastic creativity is so abundant, and the lively local Art Festivals reveal how far it's spread.
In recent times, caring for our elderly folk and grandparent duties means making-time is much reduced, as we savour the wee ones before they grow up into digital dudes. They say ‘don’t work with children or animals’, but they are now my constant visual information, and provide great escapism. Besides they already have useful techno traits, and growing muscles that I’m going to need in spades in the near future.
You can find out more about Teresa's work here https://www.teresamartinsculpture.com/