The appreciation of beauty, whether man made or natural, can transfix us and leave us with a sense of awe and wonder.
Stone has been in the consciousness of mankind for millennia, and creating the Dreamstones series revealed to me a new facet of its nature.
I am eternally captivated by stone and when working with it I am drawn into a journey of stillness. There is the desire to acquiesce with its very nature and when there is a mutual surrender secrets reveal themselves.
These works are memorials that pay homage to nature. They exude the essence of the same, not just pictorially but energetically, and there is a feeling evoked that reminds us of something within the depths of our own true nature.
For Dreamstones, light, one of the most powerful elements of art and design has been incorporated to back-illuminate one of the oldest, aesthetic and most prized of materials – marble. The result is an overwhelmingly beautiful combination that is both contemporary and ancient at the same time.
There can be no lack of craftsmanship in the undertaking of such works and the union of such pure elements has created what seems a sublime alchemy.
Light is the heaven ingredient to this potion, marble is the Earth dressed as nobility and my endeavour is to fashion a vision that can bridge the two.
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Haydn Sheppard was born in Bath (a city famous for its stone) and was initiated into stonework through Walcot Reclamation. He has since developed a reputation for thorough, intricate craftsmanship in marble and relief work.
His diverse portfolio includes substantial restoration and reproduction of classical feature fireplaces at Wardour Castle, a dramatic inlaid piece using malachite for the Sultan Of Brunai and stone construction on a gold award winning design at the Chelsea Flower Show which resulted in Royal Warrants for the designers. He also worked on an exquisite life-size rock-crystal skull, possibly the largest of its kind known.
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