These are all a certain type of limestone with a distinctive shape. I spent two days collecting and gathering them together for this special full-moon night. Not spooky or a witches coven, just some friends getting cosy around the fire on monmouth beach in Lyme Regis.
This Sculpture was featured in the BBC "Coast" program about the coastline around Lyme Regis. From 6 hours of filming they got 8 seconds of time lapse sequence.The top stone was very, very, very, very, very heavy and refused to be knocked over by the waves, a credit to the rock community.
One of the hardest balances I have done, it was almost impossible to find the centre and it collapsed over twenty times until I found the sweet spot. The top stone was already broken and only became a mouth when I lodged the fossil between the two halves. The scrape marks on the bottom boulder are evidence of the many failed attempts to set this up.
Balanced on Monmouth beach to the west of the Cobb in Lyme Regis. The fossil below is beautifully defined, while the top stone is a barely recognizable weathered ammonite. A gummy old man, a friendly dugong - a couple of rocks just eating the wind?
There is no reason to be down in the mouth. This is a historical balance on the Slabs near Lyme Regis. An ancient face astonished by his own fashion sense. Call that a hat - you freak!
This base rock is heaven sent. It lends itself to any composition, always giving its best. On the top the remnants of an ammonite and a quirky shape draws the attention to a strong balance on a beautiful summer's day in Lyme Regis. In the water are humans.
Soft, smooth blue lias topped with a heavy rugged and brutal flint overseeing a rising orange moon on the Cobb in Lyme Regis. The contrasting stones on this famous landmark are as abstract as they are absurd. The fishermen are trying to catch crabs.
This is part of my anthropomorphous series with lovely views of Lyme, the Cobb, and the coastal cliffs looking east to West Bay. This photograph was taken when the new beach was being brought over from France. See the sand barges out at sea and a digger positioning the stones for the new groyne at the end of the Cobb wall.
Hello Hello what's going on here then? Nothing much, just a brilliant balance, looking completely impossible from certain angles - I love it.
The oversized top stone settled nicely into this classic scale-balance. A couple walking their dog refused to believe it was a purely balanced sculpture. After taking some shots I encouraged them to push it over. To their surprise it collapsed narrowly missing their Jack Russell. Ask yourself - if the dog had been squashed - who is responsible?
With sea water from the previous wave still running down the stones, I was amazed that this very delicate balance defied nature to the end and resolutely held on until the final wave of the set, shown powering towards, it finally brought it down. For what seems such a simple picture there is so much in it - the various deep colours, the rock-steadfastness of the stones against the movement of the water and the lonely defiance against the inevitable. It breaks your heart.
Sunrise on Back Beach. Notice the trail of mist rolling out of the valley at Charmouth known locally as the 'Dragon's Tongue'. The top stone has veins of iron pyrites (fools' gold) running across it and its unusual shape gives a good visual perspective for this on a difficult sloping face. If you look closely you can see a rhino's face on the top stone.
These were two very large rocks of the same type of stone that I thought would never balance in this position but suddenly they held firm and remained solid for the long time it took me to set up this shot. I am very proud of this balance and the breaking wave and fantastic definition of the pebbles were the icing on the cake.
An incoming tide, fading light and a tardy child - could be a recipe for disaster. Thankfully, no one lost their heads until the next wave - just after I took this shot.
A sharp shot of a classic balance against a very black Cobb wall. A purist would have rinsed down the sand to remove the footprints, but that removes the human process involved, and anyway I forgot my bucket.
If you walk west from Monmouth Beach eventually you will come across a landscape of ledges terraced by the rock strata and worn beautifully smooth by the sea. There are many lozenge shaped boulders that just cry out to be balanced precariously and unlike other stones lend themselves to side balances in seemingly impossible positions.
Larger than they look, these two rocks are some of my favourites. The bottom stone has an unusual tunnel eroded through its middle which has a strange warmth to it. The balancing stone has on it an imprint of a fossil which being internal has survived the weathering process and also has a lovely amber glow.
This is one of the few photos that has been changed from the original tint makes it nice and weird and almost disguises what is an unusual side balance.
This was the balance that gave me the idea for my anthropomorphous series of installations. The two curved edges have a deliciously small point of contact. The detail on the surfaces and the creeping shadow on the rocks give the impression of a lunar landscape. It's the boldness, symmetry and simplicity of this composition that gives it so much spunk.
Taken on Monmouth Beach with the Cobb and the boat masts in the background, these two balances look a bit spooky in silhouette. The rising sun naturally forms a starburst where it peeps between the stones. Some say the top rock in the foreground is a heart shape; to me it is the head of a preying mantis.
Mum, Dad, big Sister and a naughty child who refuses to keep up. Fantastic warm colours and beautiful light are a bonus in this happy group shot. Note how the father seems to be almost floating above the ground. See Family-Part II to see what happens next.
There are three points of contact in this shot that defy gravity. The central piece is a beauty - nicely proportioned, interestingly shaped and an extraordinary balance. On the left is 'Equilibrium', an installation renowned in the stone-balancing world.
Very disproportionate balance that makes us all very happy.
Probably the tallest stone sculpture I have balanced so far. It was harder than it looks as the foundation stone was very smooth and gave little grip. The mist coming out of the Charmouth valley is a common sight at dawn and is known as the 'Dragon's Tongue'.
These three figures are both ominous and friendly if that's possible. They appear almost alien but the dark mood is dissolved by the setting sunlight on the green algae and light chocolate coloured rocky ledge. The egg shaped head stones are formed when rocks get trapped in potholes on the seabed and are endlessly eroded and smoothed by the motion of the water.
There is a brilliant show of attitude by all three figures merely by the subtle positioning of the heads. Aloof, ambiguous, sullen, sulky, superior, resentful - it's a tense situation unfolding, perhaps the result of a domestic disagreement. Who is in charge? You tell me.
Hello Hello what's going on here then? Nothing much, just a brilliant balance, looking completely impossible from certain angles - I love it.
This image is not currently for sale.
This image is not currently for sale.
This image is not currently for sale.
This image is not currently for sale.
This image is not currently for sale.
This image is not currently for sale.
This image is not currently for sale.
This image is not currently for sale.
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