Fred Watson in the Stables Gallery at Cheeseburn Sculpture

Fred Watson has 5 stone carvings in the gardens at Cheeseburn and his exhibition at Cheeseburn’s Stables Gallery in July 2017 aims to showcase his fine still life carvings in wood.



Fred has worked for many years from a large studio in rural Northumberland where he has built a strong reputation for thoughtful carvings, producing gallery pieces in wood and in stone for public commissions.

“I find a complicity between Still Life and the practice of carving. Time is the essence of them both. The long, patient, solitary practice of carving reflects the long, silent indifference of the objects. Stone and Wood belong to time. Many of my tools have been used by generations of craftsmen. Carving is a rewarding solitude, which is what impels my work. I carve the most ordinary of objects because the ordinary is rich enough. Familiar objects that can be moved at will become fixed in a timeless matrix.



Still Life is common in painting but not in sculpture. Carving creates a dialogue between form and function and when ordinary objects are rendered in wood or stone they assume a different reality. The sculpture becomes distanced from the objects it represents, which become more remote, secluded and potentially meaningful.”
Fred Watson

http://cheeseburn.com/events/fred-watson/