Hugh Wedderburn

Izit? and the ‘inner city, indoor hedge, the in-version of suburbia’, trees to replenish resources for future generations to carve

Dear Gosia,

Thank you for asking me to contribute to The Museletter, I am humbled to be asked.

I live and work in Tabard Street with the sculptor Danuta Solowiej and our mathematician daughter, Józia. We all care for Izit?, a cat who continues to live with us for so long as we provide for her.

As a woodcarver trained in period styles, working traditionally with hand tools, finding myself companioned with Muse Gallery Artists might at first seem strange but I am quite comfortable.

I see no philosophical or artistic distinction. Art is art and intended to stimulate thought. That my work is easily accessible does not make it superficial. Once engaged with, the underlying ideas are there to be sought out, recognised and contemplated.

At the most fundamental level, the materials are natural, the making is slow and in tune with nature; founded on sustainability and the knowledge that a living tree is already an object of beauty, the wood it provides has grace before it is touched by chisel.

The Master Carvers’ Association, of which I am a member, are central to the Grinling Gibbons Tercentenary National Festival. To this end we have been showing our work, living legacy, as an exhibition titled Art & Ornament. Our activity has been paused for the moment as, when planning, we were unsure of what restrictions Covid variants might cause. We hope to reemerge in the spring with a programme of events to see us through to the end of the tercentenary in August, which are listed on our dedicated website www.grinlinggibbons.uk Hugh Wedderburn, Abundant Harvest, Julia Brodie Collection

Hugh Wedderburn, Pan Music Stand, Temple Newsam Collection