Since moving back to Wales almost 5 years ago, after many years of working in stone I have at last returned to working in wood and draw my inspiration from the history within Pembrokeshire where I live.  The wood forms I make have a focus on stillness and peace, inspired by standing stones, archaeology and ruined castles. Standing within these castle ruins, I am aware of a sense of peace and history suspended in time; an atmosphere which pervades these old buildings and which I aim for in my sculptures.

While a sense of peace is the main emphasis in my work, I find myself looking back to the battles that took place there – and my thoughts turn to the conflicts of war and peace, aggression and calm, despair and hope, darkness and light – contrasts that I have started to include in my most recent sculptures to reflect memories of the battles and struggles in the area.

These are the themes of my work; still towers and pillars carved to illustrate endurance through the ages with their weathered textures and darkened quiet archways, blade forms to denote the battles that took place. The archways are often charred to a soft velvety blackness to disappear into, like a safe haven, whereas the heavy areas of texture illustrate struggle and friction of war through a more aggressive surface, light in some areas to illustrate hope and breakthrough, dark in others.

I make these sculptures to be absorbed into that stillness, whether it is being immersed in several floor standing forms or just one silent presence up on a plinth.  An escape into a moment of calm and pensive quiet.  My hope is that others will experience my work in the same way.