Mythological Giant Finn McCool The Irish Giant Ceramic Sculpture Sculpture

The sculptures are made with a direct honesty to the nature of the material. Clay is a wonderful material that can be pulled, squashed, shaped and squeezed. It takes an impression like no other material and, being a basic "earth" material, it is a joy to work with. Natural and manufactured objects are used to make impressions and produce strong textures. The work shows the way as it progresses into a finished piece. The hand becomes as important as the eye and the mind. My work is nearly always conceptual. For me it is what the work represents, the creative thinking behind the image, which is of the greatest interest. Inspiration comes from an eclectic range of sources such as old and new philosophical ideas, popular culture, science, dance, poetry, mythology and ancient sources. After studying the Philosophy of Art at university I gradually became a practitioner as well as a passionate follower of Art. I now have work all over the world which is such a wonderful buzz! Painting:- I’m interested in paint, not as a material to create an illusion, but rather as a substance to be experimented with and celebrated. I like to explore the way paint moves and performs on the canvas with various textural elements. This produces a variety of fascinating sculptural and textural qualities. Often I include materials such as sand, gravel, pumice, and pieces of canvas and hessian. This builds up to give a beautiful and fascinating surface that has a sculptural quality and encourages touch and sensation as well as visual awareness. Additions are collected from places I have visited around the world. The physical act of applying paint I see as an exhilarating form of ritual, a dance and a demonstration of a moment of perception in time. I like the work to have a strong visual impact and to be interesting close up as well as from a distance.