To date I have made two brass sculptures using the lost wax process for my MFA Show. It is truly a magical moment when they are born from the investment mould. Your baby has arrived into the world intact! However, there is still much preparation work to do before each cast is ready to be shown.

Firstly they must be cleaned to remove the investment, slag and wax that is still stuck to the surface: for this process I used the sand blaster.  I then employed a wire brush to polish each building. Great care must be taken and protective goggles are essential. A quality wire brush is a must also as inferior tools can result in stray wire projectiles penetrating your soft skin at speed!

This could have been the final stage but I required a finish that made my buildings look old. To achieve this I used an antiquing fluid applied with a brush to a grease free surface. 

It is my main intention that the artworks in my final Masters Show may inspire a viewing audience to wonder. That they might ponder upon an object set before them and consider its origin is another. This second intention though is one that I would forgive if you couldn't be bothered asking. What I do wish though is that you begin to appreciate an artifacts aesthetic qualities. That you dare to expand your definition of what you think might be termed as 'beautiful'. If you do however consider an object origin the rewards can be exciting......

After around a year of collecting a number of large round metal lids, I realised I was finding them in a small stretch of coastline. Scattered adjacently I noticed lumps of tar. An internet search to interpret these finds led to an Angus Council report:


2:1 This report describes proposals for extending coastal protection works at land known as Dowrie Works, located on the coast about a mile south of Elliot adjacent to the Arbroath Golf Club........The site occupies an area of grassy sand dunes sandwiched between the main north-south railway line and the beach, and covers an area of about 3.2 ha.

2.3 The factory itself was established in 1890 and has produced bitumen products that would most likely have been derived from coal tar, a by product from gasworks. Over the years of operation the bitumen factory was expanded several times and historic maps show the expansion of the site over the beach as a refuse tip.


Further research revealed that the factory sustained an attack by a German Heinkel bomber in WW2. The demise of the factory ended in closure in 1970. Decades later the remains of the demolished factory await discovery by keen wondrous eyes.

These metal lids are interesting enough for me to be viewed without revealing their secrets. However the bequest bestowed by their ancestry does add to their beauty.

When I first displayed my glass cyanotypes for the January review I used magnet spacers to displace the support from the wall enabling natural light to illuminate the image.

out of pain something beautiful is rendered............