Artist Angus Clyne

Spalted Sycamore Vase

Angus Clyne

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Media Wood
Type Sculpture
Price £750.00 / $947.17
Size 36 x 28 cm
Ref 23321

Olive Ash Bowl

Angus Clyne

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Media Wood
Type Sculpture
Price £240.00 / $303.10
Size 56 x 56 cm
Ref 23727

Angus Clyne is a wood turner living and working in rural Perthshire, producing wooden vessels and sculptures using native woods from his workshop.

Personal Statement

I was brought up on the North West coast of Scotland and being diagnosed at an early age with dyslexia was never going to have an academic career. Having originally applied for an illustration course at Carlisle College of Art I was talked into studying Fine Art. Realising I had made a mistake after a short time I then spent several years travelling and working abroad doing various jobs along the way including; joiner/carpenter, professional busker, fisherman and running my own restaurant.

I eventually returned to my original interest in the arts and combining it with a long family tradition of woodworking became a professional wood turner in 1998. I am mostly self taught and have developed my own tools and techniques along the way to suit my needs. All the wood I use is locally sourced from windblown or dead trees. It is important to the way I work that I am involved with the wood from the very start, this influences my decision making as I continually reassess how best to use the wood. Over the years I have concentrated on making bowls and vases these have often been very large thin walled vessels giving priority to form and the natural grain of the wood. My work today has become more design orientated and is often carved, distressed and burnt, incorporating other materials including reclaimed wood, metals and acrylics. By combining the inspiration I get from my local surroundings with the work I produce I am continually seeking new and original ways to make a connection between myself, my experiences, the work and the viewer.

As well as regularly selling through Scottish Galleries my work has been included in many significant exhibitions over the years. I have a piece of work in the permanent crafts collection at the Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead and exhibited at the Scottish Parliament. I was also chosen to exhibit at the G8 Summit at Gleneagles in 2005.

Permanent Collection

SHIPLEY GALLERY - Gateshead, TYNE AND WEAR 13 Hands Touring Craft Exhibition - Highland Council

Past Exhibitions

2007

Eden Court - Inverness

Six Cities Exhibition - Inverness

Scottish Parliament - Highland Year of Culture Exhibition

Cawder Castle Constellation Launch Affordable Art Fair - Battersea, London

G8 Summit 2005 - Gleneagles, Perthshire

Crawford Arts Centre - St Andrews

Swanson Gallery - Thurso

Morven Gallery - Isle of Lewis

Lilly Gallery - Milngarvie, Glasgow

Hunter Gallery - Long Melford, Suffolk

Collins Gallery - University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Europa Exhibition - Scotland House, Brussels

Art:TM - Inverness

Education

2000 Melvin Firmager - Advanced Woodturning Somerset

1989 Carlisle College of Art

1987 Fort William High School

Awards and Funding

2008 Scottish Arts Council Professional Development Grant to attend Emma 08 Collaboration - Canada

2008 Perth & Kinross Visual Artist Award to purchase equipment

2008 3rd Place - Wizardry in Wood Freestyle Competition - Worshipful Company of Turners, London 2000 UK register of Professional Turners

2000 Lochaber Ltd & EU Leader Funding to help build workshop and studio, Glenuig. 1999 Scottish Arts Council Professional Development Grant

1998 Lochaber Ltd & EU Leader Business Start up Grant

TECHNIQUES AND FINISHES.Turning and carving.

All the wood I use is locally sourced, i.e. it comes from farms, gardens and local forests, it is almost always from windblown trees or trees that have had to be removed because they are dead, dangerous or have been cleared for new roads and houses etc.When the wood arrives at my workshop it is still fresh, wet and in the round. I usually leave the logs lying outside to age and spalt. Spalted wood has been attacked by fungus and often has spectacular colouring with distinctive black lines running through it, when the wood is dry the spalting is stable and will not change or fade with sunlight.When I feel the time is right to use the wood I rough it into shape with a chainsaw before mounting it on my lathe for turning. As the wood for large vessels is wet and can weigh hundreds of kilos it can take several hours to get a large piece of wood into my workshop and mounted safely on the lathe. To turn large work I have had to adapt and make my own specialised tools, these are all hand held and can be up to five feet long. All my work is started as wet wood, some is partially turned, then kiln dried for several months before being remounted and turned to completion. Larger work, natural edged bowls and vases are often turned to completion from wet wood then left to dry before being polishing off on the lathe. All wet turned work will have shrunk during drying and is sometimes slightly oval or wrinkled. Both these ways of working eliminate the natural tensions in wood that can cause splits and cracking, this makes my finished work both flexible and stable, allowing it to cope with changes in humidity from Summer to Winter as well as stress from central heating and direct sunlight etc.Some parts of my work is black and textured; this is generally achieved with a gas blow torch or pyrography machine. After burning it is wire brushed and cut back to reveal the unburnt wood underneath. Finishes If it is a bowl and you can put something in it like fruit, it is nearly always finished with Rustins Danish Oil. This is a food safe waterproof finish that has been applied to the bare wood and built up in layers over several days. Danish Oil can be reapplied as and when needed (I have not had to re-oil a bowl in the last twelve years). You can clean work like this with a damp cloth.If it is a vase it will usually have a paste wax polish on it; I use Liberton Black Bison Neutral Wax, this is a high gloss finish which shouldn’t need any further treatments unless it gets wet, water will dull the surface polish and make it opaque but will not affect the wood underneath. If this happens all that is needed to bring back the shine is a good rub with a duster, cloth or kitchen roll. If this does not work a further coat of good quality wax polish will do the job.