How to encapsulate the spirit and beauty of a St. Mary's, Calne school girl?
It all began last winter when St Mary’s Director of Development, shared the vision for the new Lime Kiln Garden. Designer and St Mary’s parent, Sally Harley-Martin had left three spaces for sculptures. Would I consider making a sculpture for the garden? Of course, it was an honour to have a sculpture in such a beautiful garden, in such a fabulous school.
After much research, thought and a tour of the garden in its construction phase, I noticed a recurring pattern of threes; The three lily flowers in the school emblem, the three founders of the school and the three fates found embedded in the school grounds. But, in wanting to honour the vision for the founding of the school, the most important trio had to be the values of faith, hope and love. These are Christian symbols that have a universal relevance that speak of the human condition, appealing to all faiths and none.
There are several symbols for each of these. For Love I decided on the symbol of a basket of bread, which I adapted to a girl offering a slice of bread. This, it was felt (especially by my daughter Rosie) was more representative of a Calne girl than a mother and child as sharing breads and spreads seems to be more of a priority at this stage! To me, this showed some of the everyday kindness I have seen amongst the girls.
For Faith I chose a bible. A St Mary’s girl with her nose buried in a book seemed in keeping with the academic ethos and culture of the school. Also, it tied in with the expertly engraved Cicero quote that highlights the importance of intellectual curiosity.
Lastly, an anchor is a symbol of hope, as is a dove. When looking at the garden, I could almost see Boccioni’s ‘Unique Forms of Continuity in Space’ striding forward. I wanted to reflect this confidence in a sculpture of a girl boldly walking out into the world and towards her future. Not only holding hope for herself but being the bearer and giver of hope.
Sketches and maquettes of my ideas were presented and given the thumbs up and in March, 2020 the creative process began….how exciting! Perhaps at this point the enormity of the project dawned on me!
Models! We needed models. After asking the sixth form, we were very excited to have plenty of volunteers and I wish I could’ve sculpted them all. Three names we pulled out of the hat.
After meeting with them I decided which pose would suit each girl. As time was of the essence, sculpting began the following week. We decided bronze was the best material being both beautiful and long-lasting. The Talos foundry (www.talosartfoundry.co.uk) needed at least three months to cast them, giving me until the end of April to sculpt them. I needed to pull out all the stops!
I worked on site in the school initially, before lockdown had other ideas. Socially distanced modelling from home became the norm after that. These Sculptures are now the centrepiece of the School's centrepiece garden. Huge thanks go to Talos Foundry and the School for all the expertise and encouragement.
Photos by Benedict Depla
