Memory Fragment - A Lump of wood

Memory fragment - A lump of wood

There it sits on the dresser - a knobbly piece of unpolished burr elm with a slim groove cut into it.

Most people tend to walk past it, but one or two stop to ask what it is. This is one of the pieces Tim made for ‘Layers’ - his first exhibition that showed only sculpture, rather than the sculptural furniture by which he had made his name.

First shown at the Compass Gallery in Glasgow in 1990, the sculptures looked rustic and unsophisticated. But on exploring what looked like a lid (and most of Tim’s exhibitions had notices saying ‘Please touch’) you find a series of gleaming carvings stacked inside. These carvings felt both modern but yet redolent of something ancient and timeless. And after admiring and handling the silky wood, puzzling out how to reassemble it appeals to both children and adults alike.

Tim and Maggy’s children are the same age as ours, and for several years we shared some memorable skiing holidays in the French Alps. On one of these – and I suppose it must have been

1989 – Tim and I were tramping along in the snow, and he was wondering how on earth you price something like sculptures. I suggested that he thought about how long each sculpture had taken to make, and how much each hour of the skiing holiday had cost (quite a lot) and price them accordingly. I never knew if his typical guffaw of laughter was one of approval or not. But we managed to purchase ours at least.