The Portrait Carving Course at Pelham Place
At the beginning of the academic year 2007/08, the Stone Carving students were offered the unique opportunity of attending a four week-long Portrait Carving Residency at Pelham Place, the Hampshire estate of one of the School’s longest-standing supporters and a great patron of the arts. This course will be repeated in 2009.
The Students' Portraits
Final Portraits
This being an extra-curricular activity, a course contribution of £700 per participant was requested (a small contribution taking into consideration that all materials were provided and cut to size – i.e. bust pegs, clay, plaster and stone).
Tim Barnard, Tom Brown, Chris Burbridge, William Davies, Simon Deeney, Kevin McKeon, Ruben Marsh, Charlotte Sinton, Daphne Tengbergen attended the course. The course leader was Ivan Cudby.
Participants prepared for the course by attending six evening live modeling classes. Ivan showed students how to build up structure and primary features, in a way that is relevant to all portraits. His teaching was based on the writings of Rodin's tutor, Edouard Lanteri, the reading of which was encouraged.
Once the plaster casts (of the modeled clay portraits) were made, they were transported to Pelham Place. Each participant’s stone was cut to size.
On 16 March 2008, the students were greeted by Mr de Laszlo in the Coach House of his estate. The Coach House was transformed into accommodation for the students with a communal kitchen and bathrooms.
During this first week, students roughed out
their stones, based on their own plaster
casts. They were allocated a huge shed that could be reached by crossing an idyllic field
of grazing sheep. Mr de Laszlo joined the students for an informal dinner one evening.
Students stayed at the Coach House another three weeks in August 2008 to finish their portrait carvings – under the constant supervision of Ivan Cudby.