Arts West Unique Gifts

We are always thrilled to hear from our favorite Harmony Kingdom artist, Peter Calvesbert. Recently, he shared his thoughts on his workspace…

Today I shall talk about the place I spend most of my time. No, not in bed or down at the pub, but still good guesses. I mean my workshop. It is more than that though, it is my sanctuary. It is 8 feet by 10 feet of the planet that I can actually control (power cuts excluded). . . my haven.
It is 93 million miles from the sun but in winter feels even further and the atmosphere is very similar to the rest of the planet: 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and trace elements of other gases, especially after curry night! Dead centre of the shed, you will find “mission control” or the swivel chair.
At first glance it appears to be carved from wax - not so - it is just covered in a wax veneer from all the carvings. Once a year it is scraped clean (ish) with a knife.
When I sit down, I am met by the gaze of some poor, wrinkly, dishevelled creature. . .alas it is only a mirror. Now the view might not be so good, but it does mean that I have someone to talk to and argue with. Without that I would have surely gone mad years ago. The mirror does have another purpose. Whenever I need to give a carving an expression of some kind, I can be found pulling faces at the mirror. . .please, try not to imagine it!

		A quick spin in the chair reveals books everywhere. There are over 400 of them and about the same number of magazines. These of course are my reference books, the majority of them from charity (thrift) shops. I find the quality of the
pictures is usually better than anything I can print off internet. My trusty Panasonic EN9 is my link with the outside world. Well, the BBC’s version of it. I suppose Radio 4 is my default listening, a mixture of speech, documentaries and comedy that I like to believe is expanding my mind but at best probably does little more
than slow down the shrinkage. Occasionally I’ll hear something that intrigues me and I make a note of it. This means my shed walls are covered in graffiti. For example, did you know Carl Djerassi invented the contraceptive pill, the W in W.H. Auden stands for Wystan, Sisyphus was condemned to push the boulder up the hill, and the combination of my bike lock is 1538? As in Slumdog Millionaire, if I’m asked the right questions, I can appear to be quite inteli. . . intellag. . . intelijen. . . brainy. Some days are obviously more productive than others. I use the internationally renowned coffee cup scale to measure how well I’ve done. Counting how many mugs I have scattered around the shed is a great work indicator, 1-3 being very productive and more than ten is a bad day! As you can imagine in the high-powered world of playing with Plasticene, a man needs a hobby. So keeping my fly fishing tackle in the shed could have been a potentially dangerous move, but luckily I enjoy my work as much as the fishing so it does not tempt me away as much as it could. Part of my shed. . .I should say studio shouldn’t I. . .is partitioned off. This is where I drill, saw and sand the resin masters to turn them into boxes. A makeshift extractor fan clears most of the dust but is unable to stop this area looking more like an explosion in a Columbian cocaine factory. At one time, my white hair would indicate hours spent working here. . .now it’s just a sign of old age. Yet another sign of the advancing years are the amount of reading glasses hanging up, 7 at the last count. They all have different magnifications and when I’m working on something very intricate I’ve even been known to wear two pairs at once. If I was a car, I think I would have been traded in by now. . .or crushed!

	The peace and solitude of shed life is ideal when it comes to carving intricate models, but it’s not all plain sailing. All too often, just as I’m deep in concentration, some Hollywood starlet will start tapping on my windows trying to attract my attention. That Liz Hurley and
Halle Berry are the worst offenders. It can be tiresome, but what can you do? I usually get them to mow the lawn or feed the chickens. . .anything so that they feel useful. Mind you that Thandie Newton made a right mess of creostoing my fence... never again!
A small shed suits me fine but I wish it was more like the Tardis when it comes to displaying Millie’s art work. She is a painting machine and I do worry for the trees with the amount of paper she gets through. Maybe I should let her loose on the fence.
I also have a picture of Murphy in my shed along with her Frisbee. Sadly she is no longer with us, but we still have the many memories of her fifteen years. Walks are not the same though. So that’s my space, where all the models take shape and where I am happy. I would recommend a shed to anyone! ~ Peter Calvesbert To check out some of the newest pieces to come out of the shed, click here!