TO THE WIRE
Yorkshire Life|July 2020
A day in the life of sculptor Mark Irwin in his studio in the Yorkshire Wolds
Mark Irwin
TO THE WIRE

6.30 This is the best part of the day with everything to look forward to. After 36 years as an engineer in the Royal Navy I was about to start a second career in business when first a prostate cancer then a Parkinson’s Disease (PD) diagnosis changed my perspective. I started as a hobby artist blacksmith with my own forge high on a hill, but a move to a more residential setting meant a change of direction was needed. I saw an owl made from a chicken wire in a magazine and thought “I’d like to make one of those”, so I went on a course and knew straight away I had found what I wanted to do. I used my engineering and metalworking experience to progress and moved away from chicken wire to steel and stainless steel wire. Practice and perseverance have allowed me to now work on more intricate and complex projects. Now I work from my studio at home in the Yorkshire Wolds so the commute only involves negotiating the stairs, kitchen, and utility room.

7.30 Breakfast with my wife Belinda overlooking the garden. At the moment I’m having a game with a sparrow. I made a sculpture of a blackbird sitting on a garden fork. For the past few mornings I’ve tried to take a photo of the sparrow sitting on the blackbird’s head, seemingly his favourite perch. As soon as he’s seen my camera though he has fled.

This story is from the July 2020 edition of Yorkshire Life.

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This story is from the July 2020 edition of Yorkshire Life.

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