I am able to work from photographs but truly superior results are always obtained by working from life, particularly with portraits of people.

The way it is done is that we arrange a series of sittings about two hours long, maybe weekly or two weekly. It usually takes somewhere between eight and
twelve sittings for a good likeness to emerge and for it to come alive.

Between sttings the clay is wrapped up and sprayed regularly with water so it doesn't dry out. When the portrait is finished, I make a mould of it and recycle the
clay. From the mould, the sculpture can be cast into a variety of materials such as plaster, resin or wax (for bronze).

If more than one cast is to be made or in order to make a wax for bronze casting, the mould will be made of flexible rubber with a plaster case. Flexible rubber is
a very effective modern alternative to gelatine and horsehair or to the complex reusable plaster piece moulds of previous centuries. The idea is that the rigid
plaster case can be made in as few pieces as is practicable. These are designed so they can be slid off the rubber quite easily. Once they are off, the flexible
rubber pieces can be pulled gently away from all the details and undercuts in the sculpture without damaging it. They can then be fitted back into the rigid case
so another cast can be made from the mould if necessary.

Whatever material is used for the cast (plaster, wax or resin) it goes into the mould as a liquid. It might be poured in up to the neck of the mould and left to set
or it might be painted in with a brush and built up to a suitable thickness in each piece separately. In this case the pieces would then be clamped together and
more of the liquid would be poured in and out again leaving the seams joined. If it is possible to reach all of the seams by hand from the inside they can be
painted in with a brush.