I have always found inspiration for my sculpture in nature and natural forms. I am most excited by the human form in all its phases, from birth, maturity, to old age. Animals are a recurring theme in my work too, as are plant shapes such as flower buds, leaves and seedheads.

I enjoy the different challenges presented by the three materials in which I work - wood, stone and clay. Carving wood and stone is a subtractive technique, you chip away the material to reveal solid forms. Working with clay, by contrast, is like addition - you build up the forms by accumulation.

The raw material itself is often the spur to my imagination. For woodcarving, I might start from an ancient oak beam, already full of character and history, and build upon this. In the same way, a rough shape of soapstone, for example, can suggest ideas that guide me.