0:00:14 > 0:00:18Whilst filming Flog It! I've travelled the length and the breadth of the British Isles
0:00:18 > 0:00:22and during this time, I've had the opportunity to meet some great British artists
0:00:22 > 0:00:25and to view art in the most perfect settings.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28Whilst in Gloucestershire, I dropped by a unique gallery
0:00:28 > 0:00:33that's dedicated to the combination of nature and art.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37And I met a talented artist, whose previous career has dictated
0:00:37 > 0:00:38his favourite subject.
0:00:38 > 0:00:43But firstly, whilst in Exeter, I got the chance to indulge one of my great passions - sculpture.
0:00:49 > 0:00:55And what a glorious setting - Exeter University's sculpture park.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02# In the days between the hours
0:01:02 > 0:01:05# Ivory towers, bloody flowers
0:01:05 > 0:01:07# Push their heads into the air
0:01:07 > 0:01:09# I don't care
0:01:09 > 0:01:12# If I ever know
0:01:12 > 0:01:16# There I go... #
0:01:16 > 0:01:20Sculpture - what is it and why is it so important?
0:01:20 > 0:01:24Well, to me, it's one of the most important aspects of the visual arts
0:01:24 > 0:01:27because it's three-dimensional. You can walk around it,
0:01:27 > 0:01:29view it from every single angle,
0:01:29 > 0:01:33and hopefully touch it. It's very much like these trees here.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35That's living, breathing sculpture
0:01:35 > 0:01:38that's found its own shape and form.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41But there is some sculpture that artists create -
0:01:41 > 0:01:44they chip away the layers from pieces of stone.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49And it's that concentration of energy and time and love
0:01:49 > 0:01:53that creates a spirit. And it's that spirit that provokes us into thinking.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57It's quite radical. And it should shock you into thinking, "What is it all about?"
0:01:57 > 0:02:01And everybody has a different point of view.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04There's over 20 sculptures here, all carefully placed.
0:02:04 > 0:02:09There's too many to look at, so I'm just going to pick on half a dozen.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12This has got to be my favourite. It's by Barbara Hepworth,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15and it is cast in bronze. It's hollow bronze. Listen to this.
0:02:15 > 0:02:16SCULPTURE ECHOES
0:02:16 > 0:02:18But I'll tell you what -
0:02:18 > 0:02:22I feel really privileged to be able to touch this and add a bit more patina.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26The fact that it's outside - it's still constantly evolving and changing.
0:02:26 > 0:02:32It's sort of been weathered by the elements. It's getting a ravishing throughout the four seasons.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34It's great to see sculpture at different times of the year
0:02:34 > 0:02:37because the light creates different shadows on it.
0:02:37 > 0:02:43It's an interpretation of mother and child, and you can see the female point of view, can't you,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46when you look at that? It really is awesome.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51Somebody who studied at the Leeds College Of Art with Barbara Hepworth,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55one of her contemporaries and possibly the world's most renowned sculptor is Henry Moore.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59Now, there should be a Henry Moore plonked right here
0:02:59 > 0:03:01on this plinth.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04But because there's been such a spate of theft in the art world recently,
0:03:04 > 0:03:09the statue has been taken away to have a tracker device fitted so nobody can pinch it.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13It's titled Reclining Connected Forms and it's exactly what you'd expect
0:03:13 > 0:03:17of Henry Moore. Wonderful, soft, organic, flowing lines.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30Moving away from the soft organic lines we've just seen, I've come across this.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35which is very architectural. It's by Devon-born artist Paul Mount,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37who was born in Newton Abbot in 1922.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41He's still working today and he's got a studio down in Cornwall in St Just.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45And it's called Skysails, and you can see why, can't you?
0:03:45 > 0:03:50It really does brighten up this sort of very austere, boring brickwork.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53You could imagine it with a bright blue sky behind it.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57It's a bit dull today, but you'd almost think you were at sea, wouldn't you?
0:03:57 > 0:04:00It's constructed of iron and stainless steel
0:04:00 > 0:04:05and it really does reflect the atmospheric conditions that you see during the four seasons.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08There's constant change going on.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13I absolutely adore this piece. It's called Man Of The World,
0:04:13 > 0:04:16and it's by Hungarian-born sculptor Peter Peri,
0:04:16 > 0:04:18and it's been here since 1960.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23I love the fact that it's sort of... It's a bit like Superman coming out the side of a building.
0:04:23 > 0:04:28To appreciate it, you've got to be where you are right now - looking right up so you can see the sky
0:04:28 > 0:04:34and this sort of man reaching out saying, "My future's out there. That's my world!"
0:04:34 > 0:04:38I think he's inspired many students here at the university.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40MUSIC: "Find The River" by REM
0:04:40 > 0:04:44# A fortune for the undertow
0:04:44 > 0:04:48# All of this is coming your way... #
0:04:50 > 0:04:56It's just great to see and feel art in such glorious surroundings.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04'I've also had the opportunity to meet the artists themselves.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08'Whilst in Chippenham, I dropped in to see a sculptor who happens to be an ex-jockey.
0:05:08 > 0:05:14'Phil Blacker makes life-size models of racehorses inspired by his years in the saddle.'
0:05:14 > 0:05:20How did you make the transition from top jockey to top sculptor?
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Well, it was a bit of luck, really.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25I was driving down to the races one day in the '70s,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28and we stopped, picked up the owner of the horse I was riding.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32It turned out to be a lady called Margot Dent, who was a sculptor.
0:05:32 > 0:05:37We got talking, and I told her I'd always had an interest in sculpture,
0:05:37 > 0:05:41but never actually done it. I used to paint at school, but never sculpted.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44And she said, "Look, why don't you have a go?"
0:05:44 > 0:05:49And when there was no racing, I went down to stay with her and her husband and that's how I got started.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52I wanted to capture the excitement and the energy,
0:05:52 > 0:05:54and I didn't feel that anybody quite got it.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57And the fact that I was race-riding every day,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00I knew exactly how a jockey changed his hands on his reins,
0:06:00 > 0:06:04and how horses inter-react in a race, and all that sort of thing.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06I wanted to capture all of that.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11But when I started to re-create them three-dimensionally, I found I didn't know that much about it.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15So I had to study the anatomy at the Royal Veterinary College.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20Is this one of your first pieces? I can't take my eyes off it. It's absolutely striking.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22That's a pretty early piece.
0:06:22 > 0:06:28It was commissioned by Sheikh Mohammed, of his horse, Pebbles when she won in America.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30And it's got Pat Eddery, the jockey, riding her.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35And I've kept this piece because I was particularly proud of it at the time.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39It was a real example of my early passion about it.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41- And struggling, and getting it right.- Yeah.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44What I want to know is, how do you achieve it?
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Well, if you follow me, I'll show you!
0:06:47 > 0:06:51Right, this is a statue I'm doing at the moment.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54- This is for Malaysia. - Gosh! He's lovely.
0:06:54 > 0:07:00What I want to know is what's going through your mind. Say you get a commission, somebody's racehorse.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04Obviously, you start with your sketches and your studies and your photographs.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08Yes. I'd probably make two, three, four trips, doing sketches, drawings, photographs,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12and then you'd bring it back, you'd decide on the pose,
0:07:12 > 0:07:17which very much depends on the temperament of the animal and what the client wants.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22And then you make a maquette. A small-scale model.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27In this case, it was slightly easier cos the horse was no horse in particular. It wasn't a portrait.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31It just wanted to capture the controlled power of the dressage horse.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33It's very much a power thing.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38And that one there, is that actually made in the solid? That solid clay, or is there a frame in there?
0:07:38 > 0:07:40There is a frame in there.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43This is obviously not the same position,
0:07:43 > 0:07:47but this frame is there to support the clay.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50So, as you can imagine here,
0:07:50 > 0:07:55there is a wire frame, made out of aluminium,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57attached to this stand.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01When you get a big piece like this, you can't make it solid.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06Once the frame is made, I then wrap the whole thing in chicken wire.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08This is the traditional way of doing it.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13And then, the exciting moment, when you've done all that,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16and you start to put the clay on.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19And the clay will probably be...
0:08:20 > 0:08:23- Oh, my word!- ..that thick.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25How much does that weigh? Do you know?
0:08:25 > 0:08:28This has got about a ton of clay on it.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30You're never going to move that,
0:08:30 > 0:08:35so I guess it's cast here. They come to take mouldings from it here, do they?
0:08:35 > 0:08:36Yeah, they come for a week,
0:08:36 > 0:08:41and they make plaster casts in seven sections.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45The four legs, the tail, the head and the body.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50And they take the cast away, and they cast it into bronze,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53and after about four months, it takes four months to cast,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57- it emerges in bronze. - Very labour-intense, isn't it?
0:08:57 > 0:08:59What sort of cost are we looking at?
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Well, the casting is tens of thousands of pounds,
0:09:02 > 0:09:08but to commission something like this is around the £80,000 mark.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12No doubt it's going to be a very sound investment of the future.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16These are the antiques of the future, the Phil Blackers, that's for sure!
0:09:16 > 0:09:18I suppose they are!
0:09:20 > 0:09:25'Philip's sculptures continue a great tradition. A combination of nature and art.
0:09:29 > 0:09:35'Art inspired by nature is a theme that dates back to the very origins of artistic expression,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38'and remains popular to this day.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41'It is therefore surprising that the fusion of art and nature,
0:09:41 > 0:09:46'a theme with such strong heritage, has been under-represented in galleries,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49'and until recently, didn't even have a home in Britain.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54'While in Gloucestershire, I visited Nature In Art,
0:09:54 > 0:09:57'a unique and stunning collection of art inspired by nature.
0:09:57 > 0:10:05'A collection that spans 15,000 years, 600 artists and 60 countries.'
0:10:05 > 0:10:08'Simon Trapnell is the Trust director and one of its founders.'
0:10:08 > 0:10:11So, why set up such an important collection in the middle of nowhere?
0:10:11 > 0:10:19What's the inspiration of the work in the museum? It's nature. Does it make sense being in a concrete jungle?
0:10:19 > 0:10:23It makes more sense to be in a greener environment where we can make a link
0:10:23 > 0:10:27between what's inspired the artists and the art itself.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30Being in a place like this enables us to do that.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46One of the collection's most important artists has to be the late Sir Peter Scott.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Sir Peter was the first president of Nature In Art Trust.
0:10:49 > 0:10:55He was a great inspiration to us, not just as an artist, but because of his local links in the county.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Exactly. Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02It brings back schoolboy memories for me as I stayed there as a student for about a week.
0:11:02 > 0:11:08I did the summer school and drawing in the wetlands and in the huts looking at the birds in the hides.
0:11:08 > 0:11:14I'm sure he's responsible for countless people after you getting to grips with loving birds,
0:11:14 > 0:11:15and loving drawing birds.
0:11:15 > 0:11:23He knew his subject so well. That understanding of the subject comes out in his paintings.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Also the place, the environment, the atmosphere, the mist
0:11:26 > 0:11:30and all those sort of things that give the picture life
0:11:30 > 0:11:33and it may not have every last feather painted on the bird,
0:11:33 > 0:11:34but that doesn't matter
0:11:34 > 0:11:37because it tells you so much without those things.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39The space is quite important.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43- Very important.- Less is best sometimes.- Quite often.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Wow, look at this. I really wanted you to talk about this,
0:11:56 > 0:12:01because I don't know who's done it, but they're so talented. They know how to use a pencil.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04It's like a photograph - a photographic representation.
0:12:04 > 0:12:10We love to celebrate different media and pencil is such a simple media.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12This is by Terence Lambert
0:12:12 > 0:12:15and Terence is possibly a name that many people will know.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19He's illustrated bird books for Collins and Reader's Digest
0:12:19 > 0:12:21and in many ways is known as an illustrator.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23I feel this is a picture
0:12:23 > 0:12:28where he's not been doing something for somebody else's purposes,
0:12:28 > 0:12:32or schedule, but this is something he's done for the fun of it,
0:12:32 > 0:12:33for himself.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35In a way that's what a museum like us can do -
0:12:35 > 0:12:38have the opportunity to show those special pieces
0:12:38 > 0:12:40that are done just for the love of it.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42So you've got to be a real animal lover as well.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44Yeah. He loves and knows his birds.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48It's the old thing - a consistent theme through the collection
0:12:48 > 0:12:52would be that successful pictures rely on people knowing their subject
0:12:52 > 0:12:55- and hopefully loving their subject. - Yeah.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04- Here's the king of the jungle. - This is a lion by William Timym,
0:13:04 > 0:13:08an Austrian sculptor who came over just before the Second World War.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Like many sculptors,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13he's somebody who perhaps the name doesn't mean anything,
0:13:13 > 0:13:17but all of us may have come across his work one way or the other.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21- He was a cartoonist on Punch.- Really? - He did cartoons for Blue Peter,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25but he was best known for his animal sculptures
0:13:25 > 0:13:26and he gave us this sculpture
0:13:26 > 0:13:28and, one of the lovely things,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31gave us the sketches and things that he did
0:13:31 > 0:13:34- that goes with it and the studies and so on.- Yeah.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37He was out in the field watching the beasts roaming the plains.
0:13:37 > 0:13:38Absolutely.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41I feel sometimes I've seen paintings and sculptures of lions and in a way
0:13:41 > 0:13:45you get the feeling that the lion wouldn't say boo to a goose,
0:13:45 > 0:13:49- and most lions do and this is something that is incredible... - Menacing.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51If not menacing at least it's a lion.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53William, like a good cartoonist,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56is going to have to capture the essence of the subject.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01GROWLING