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Stillness, Patience and Perseverance – Lessons from The Queen’s Beasts
Monday 25th June 2012
Tom Hiscocks came to school to explain his joyful sculptures of the Queen’s Beasts. The originals were made for HM the Queen to commemorate her Coronation in 1953. But Tom, a professional sculptor, thought them sad and stiff and when he listened very carefully he could hear the personality of each trying to escape from its stone body. The bull that wanted to sing opera, the horse that was desperate to experience dressage and the Welsh Dragon that wanted to put out fires, not start them!
Using over 3,000 recycled soft drinks cans and his considerable talent, Tom spent a year designing and building his 10 Sculptures. Each one based on metal frame known as an armature. He uses circles to build the shape. He likes circles as they give a ‘whole’ and ‘complete’ form.
Finally he told the children that he had learnt a lot from the Beasts - ‘like what?’ came the question –‘Stillness, so I can hear them. Patience, because everything took so long to do and perseverance, because anything really worthwhile makes you push yourself and stick at it, even when you’re tempted to give up.’
They are magnificent and currently on exhibition at Chiswick House and then they're off to 'Art in Action' at Waterperry House Nr Oxford from the 19th - 22nd July (http://www.artinaction.org.uk/). We urge you to pay them a visit!
