Member of The Royal Society of British Sculptors
and The Society of Portrait Sculptors

Born in Oxford in 1966, David Goode grew up in the small Midlands town of Leek, Staffordshire, just north of Stoke on Trent. Stoke on Trent, also known as The Potteries, was the heartland of the Victorian pottery industry, and to this day is still home to many world-famous pottery houses such as Royal Doulton and Wedgwood. At the age of eighteen David trained at The Sir Henry Doulton School of Sculpture, specializing in portrait and figurative sculpture.

In 1988 David became a portrait sculptor at the London Studios of Madame Tussauds. At twenty-one he was the youngest sculptor ever to have been offered such a position and in his six years with Tussauds he was able to travel the world for sittings with many famous figures. Some of his most notable works for Tussauds include Freddie Mercury, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Ronald Reagan and Yasser Arafat.

In 1994 David became a freelance sculptor, taking on private commissions and exhibiting his own work. The following year he produced the Snail Maker, the first piece in what would later become The Goblin Collection, which was introduced to the public eye at the Chelsea Flower Show of that year.

David has since returned to Oxford, where he now lives and works with his wife Jo, twin sons Jake and Harry and daughter Isabel (after whom ‘Isabel’s Goblin’ was named). When time and work permit, David is also a keen amateur pilot.


THE WORK
The inspiration for David’s work stretches back to a childhood fascination with myths and folklore, and a love of the writings of Tolkein. All the pieces are cast in bronze, using the ‘lost wax’ process, a method developed by the ancient Egyptians, whereby a new ceramic shell mould is both made and destroyed for each individual piece cast. This is one of the most costly methods of casting but its true worth is that the nuance and detail of the original work is preserved in every successive casting.

HOW ARE THE SCULPTURES MADE? [Description written by the Artist]

ARMATURE
Each sculpture starts life as an aluminum frame known as an armature, supported by a steel structure from behind called a back iron. The aluminum is flexible, and allows me to try out many poses before settling on the final one. The armature is made with removable head and hands, so that these parts can be worked on separately for convenience.

BLOCKING OUT
Once I am happy with the basic pose of the armature, I start to apply the clay. It is important to be methodical, and follow the rules of anatomy. This is a very enjoyable stage. The piece is fresh and full of promise, and I am still able to 'push it around'.

SEPARATE PARTS
When the body is all there, but still in its rough state, it is said to be 'blocked out'. Once this is done and I am happy with the overall look, I can start to concentrate on individual parts of the body. I might choose to remove the head and spend a week working on that alone. It is nice to get the face worked out early on, so that I can start to 'get to know' the character that I am working on.

REFINING
Over the next few weeks, the whole figure starts to look more refined. Individual muscles take shape, fingers and toes are modeled in, and it is possible to see how the finished piece is going to look. There then follows a long  period of working and re working to achieve the realistic effect needed if my goblin is to be a plausible creature. When I can go no further with tools and fingers, I proceed with sponges and brushes to further smooth the surface.

FINISHING TOUCHES
The last details to go on are the veins and wrinkles, achieved using techniques that I have refined over the years. These details are necessary to make the figure really look as though he could jump down off the plinth and run away! When the last wrinkle is on, I cover him up and call in the mould maker. The whole process has taken around three months and it is time for me to have a few days off!

MOULDING
The Mould maker decides where the mould will join, and which pieces need to be moulded separately. He carefully sections the sculpture and divides front from back by use of a clay wall, before painting a thin layer of silicone rubber on to the clay surface. The rubber is backed up with a rigid case built up using liquid resin and fiberglass mat. Eventually, the whole sculpture is encased; the mould can be opened and the clay original removed. It is for this reason that there is no such thing as an 'original bronze sculpture', all bronzes are casts taken from moulds which were made from the original clay model.

WAX CASTING
The mould is taken to the foundry, where it is filled with molten wax. When the wax has set, it can be removed from the mould. At this stage there is a lot of work to be done removing all the seams and making sure that all the detail remains crisp. This part of the casting process may take a few weeks.

BRONZE CASTING
The finished wax is covered in a ceramic shell mixture which is built up in layers. When hardened, this shell will be strong and heat resistant. It is placed in a hot oven so that the wax melts and runs out of the shell, leaving a hollow mould into which the bronze can be poured. The bronze is melted in a furnace and poured into the ceramic shell mould. When it has cooled, the ceramic shell must be broken off the bronze. There then follows a long period of chasing, welding, fettling and polishing to get the bronze from its rough state up to that of a gallery quality work of art.

FINISHING
Finally, the bronze is colored, or 'patinated' using various chemicals to achieve the desired effect. I usually go for a green patina, which merely accelerates the weathering process and gives the sculpture that 'been here for years' look.