Richard Watts

My first teacher in the art and craft of stone sculpture and letter cutting was my father Peter Watts FRBS. Peter was a sculptor in the Gill tradition and taught me from childhood (hanging around in the studio) how to handle tools, respect and understand the characters of various stones and to see strength of form and clarity of line in all good work.

During an earlier career as a landcape architect I continued to carve stone producing both figurative and lettering work sometimes working to commission. I continued to build on my early interest in lettering by attending calligraphy classes run by Calligraphy North under the tuition of Peter Halliday and attending courses run by the Memorial Arts Charity under the tuition of Tom Perkins and Eric Marland. In 2012 I refocused my career to concentrate on sculpture and lettering while retaining an active interest in the relationship of sculpture, lettering and the landscape.

I have a particular interest in creating work that responds to and enhances the spirit of a place whether this be a building or a landscape and am interested in creating work that together with its context creates a sense of ‘sacred space’ or places for reflection and contemplation.