Keith Mellard B.A. (Hons), H.N.D., H.N.C. (Fine Art).
I was born and raised in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and grew up with the rich local tradition in the art of sculpture which included both Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. Studying the fine arts has been a lifetime pre-occupation, and continues to this day.
After studying painting in Aberdeen for some years, I decided that this was not the way forward for me, and I eventually settled on sculpture, which used what I had learned to the maximum degree. Artists owe a debt to craftsmanship, and for me the process must include all parts of the work, from design to finished artefact. Otherwise an evolution that often happens during the making, cannot happen, and the artist becomes just another client.
I have public works in Aberdeen, for example the 'Ruthrieston Stone’, a standing stone with incised figures from the ancient Pictish culture, and 'Form I' at Woodend Hospital, a modern work dedicated to the surgeon who saved my life in 1990. I have worked with 'Whitespace' the Aberdeen's Council's Community Arts Development section at Northfield, helping local children on various sculptural projects, and at the Cordyce School in Dyce.
I have many, many heroes, but perhaps the ones who excite me most are Donatello from the Renaissance era, and Isamu Noguchi from the modern era. The former because he changed sculpture from an artisan's to an artists work, and the latter for his spanning of two cultures, and making groundbreaking works in both.
I try to explain the aim of my work by saying I am ’giving a shape to feelings'.
Attached is a more detailed Curriculum Vitae, and a list of my recent Exhibitions & Demonstrations, for those interested click on the one you want to see, or the right hand column