I have since learnt that he owned a farm in the Walton Street area of Aylesbury. He had no children of his own and when he died in 1719 he left the proceeds of his estate to found a Charity to help educate the underprivileged children of Aylesbury both academically and with practical skills.
I thought then that the sculpture must represent children and visualised a group of three life-size children enjoying looking at a book. I wanted them to look like siblings, wearing 18th century clothes, closely linked together, looking at the book with interested and happy expressions.
I started early in February 2020 and worked every morning in my kitchen for four months, all through the first Coronavirus lock down. I started by making the aluminium armature for the figures, then fixed them to a circular wooden base which was standing on a large turntable, for ease of access.
I always work in a special sculpture wax that has filler in it for strength. I use the top section of my range cooker to soften the wax, and then I can build up the piece or carve it down. An old hairdryer comes in useful when some parts of the piece need to be changed!
I find wax great to use once its temperature has been mastered. It is easy to store, clean to work with and can be reused many times. However, it must then be cast as it doesn't set hard.
I first started work on the little girl, then the standing boy and finally the seated boy with the book. Because they are grouped so tightly together, at times it was quite difficult to reach some sections.
