Lindsey Bauer, Creative Arts Executive at The Sculpture School recently visited Florence and caught up with an ex-alumni of ours, Louis Bailey who is now studying at The Florence Academy of Art following his One Year Course with us in Devon.
“I would definitely call Andrew Sinclair, a Master Sculptor”
“Andrew’s tools are absolutely the best!”
“Andrew provides constant encouragement and support”
Starting out:
Louis always wanted to go into “something creative” for his career using kinesthetic skills and initially he thought of becoming a blacksmith. Whilst Louis didn’t study art at GCSE or A-level, during his teenage years, he became aware that he liked to create small sculptures/models out of Blu Tack and he always carried a ball of Blu Tack everywhere with him to mould into shapes. During these years, he also undertook 2x 1-day wax sculpture courses with Eleanor Crook in Cardiff. Eleanor is an artist with a special interest in archaeology, anatomy and mortality and creates wax models. Louis found this experience interesting, helpful and inspiring!
Another inspiration was reading about Miyamoto Musashi. Miyamoto was a 16th century Japanese swordsman who devoted his life to gaining the mastery of swordsmanship. Louis felt that Miyamoto’s philosophy of living life in the pursuit of one particular skill, was also highly appealing, so Louis decided to apply this same philosophy to sculpture.
After A-levels, Louis took a gap year, working in Coop and saving-up! Then Covid happened but that didn’t deter Louis as he applied to study a 1-year Fine Art Foundation course at Bath Spa University. After completing this, Louis realised that he still needed to study sculpture in a more skills-based manner, so during the Christmas of that year, he started googling and came across The Sculpture School in Devon!
Learning to sculpt at The Sculpture School, Devon with Andrew Sinclair:
Prior to signing up for the 1-year Sculpture course at The Sculpture School in Devon, Louis came to meet its tutor, Sculptor, Andrew Sinclair, in person and to tour the workshop. They discussed Louis’ plans and Louis found Andrew’s comments, “pretty inspiring”, so after signing up for this course, Louis began the 1-year Sculpture programme at The Sculpture School under the tuition of Andrew in January 2021. This necessitated Louis being physically present and learning how to sculpt at the school, with other trainee sculptors, under Andrew’s guidance, for 5x days every month over 12 months. At the time, Louis was living in Bath, so he would take the train to Exeter each month and then stay with family members in Devon, whilst attending The Sculpture School course. Louis found the school environment very friendly and encouraging with Director, Diane Coates and Sculptor, Andrew Sinclair, making Louis feel very welcome and supported.
Louis thoroughly enjoyed the course and says that what The Sculpture School’s 1-year training programme did so well for him is the following: –
- It gave Louis an excellent grounding in anatomy.
- Andrew’s tuition provided an underpinning of the science of sculpture.
- It facilitated an appreciation for the proper use of sculpting tools (“Andrew’s sculpture tools are the best!!”)
- The tutoring gave Louis an introduction to the language of sculpture.
- Louis learnt from Andrew’s brilliant understanding of the rhythm, gesture and energy of sculpture.
- Taking part in the exhibition at the end of the course, was really useful.
- It set Louis up for his future work and career as a sculptor.
- The course itself provided a structured system for Louis, as a budding artist/sculptor, to turn his dreams into reality, as he trained and produced his own sculptures which he could use in his portfolio.
Louis’ next steps on the path to becoming a Sculptor:
After completing the 1-year course at The Sculpture School, Devon, Louis then discussed his next steps with Andrew and Andrew suggested that Louis apply to the prestigious Florence Academy of Art (‘FAA’), in Italy, to progress further over a 3-year programme (the FAA fees are 15,750 Euros per academic year or the UK equivalent of £13,091.40 per year). There are now other sculpting centres in the USA, Russia, China, Holland and Spain too but Florence is the most renown/esteemed and Louis was drawn to The Florence Academy of Art because he loves the work of instructor Eirik Arnesen (which he’d seen on Pinterest) and Eirik teaches at The Florence Academy of Art. (Another inspiration for Louis, is Bertrand Godefroy. NB: You can follow Eleanor Crook, Eirik Arnesen, Bertrand Godefroy, The Sculpture School and The Florence Academy of Art, all on Instagram).
Therefore, Louis decided to put together a portfolio of his work thus far, to apply to the FAA whilst he undertook some secular work back in Bath. His portfolio consisted of sculpture, drawings and his mission statement and he was able to use a life-size sculpture of a man and a portrait sculpture, both of which he’d created at The Sculpture School, Devon, as his portfolio pieces. The main intake for the FAA is in September so Louis planned his submission timings and he was accepted!! (NB: Prospective students at the FAA can apply for bursaries/scholarships but Louis has had financial support for his sculpting career from his family, combined with savings he made prior to commencing the FAA Sculpting Course. Time needs to be set aside for gaining a visa to study in Florence as this is more complicated now, post Brexit, but doable!)
What is studying sculpture at The Florence Academy of Art like?
The FAA is approximately a 35-minute walk from some of the main sites in Florence. It is still in Florence but not in the direct heart of the city but easily accessible via walking or buses (The no. 14 bus stops outside the FAA as I finally discovered!) The artistic genres taught at the FAA are painting, sculpture and more recently: etching. There’s a good community at the FAA with students from various countries studying there and opportunities to socialise. There is also help and pastoral support (i.e. if any mental health issues, etc). The age range of students is between 17-80 years, but students have to be fairly fit as you’re on your feet a lot! Once you apply to the FAA and are accepted, the FAA find you accommodation. (Louis shares a room with another sculpting student, near to the FAA).
Louis always sculpts in clay using the tools that Andrew Sinclair designed (Louis said how highly rated Andrew’s sculpting tools are, by the tutors at the FAA!) The sculpture style that Louis particularly likes, is figurative sculpture created from life and this has its roots in 19th century French academic tradition. This is what typifies the style Louis is drawn to. The training Louis is undergoing at the FAA involves a lot of life drawing as this gives a grounding in mature artistic principles. Sculpture and painting are both visual and even though sculpture is tactile, you have to apply the same principles to sculpture as you would to painting, such as paying a lot of attention to the way the light reflects upon the body. (Life Drawing is the root of either painting or sculpting. Being able to look at something (i.e, a model) and know how to place it in space and ‘read’ all the information that’s there and contextualise it, is complex and takes time and practice, hence all the drawing! The life models pose for half a day, every day, for 10 weeks. Using a life model isn’t easy normally for a lot of art schools because of the costs, time and availability of the models, but it definitely adds nuance).
At the FAA as a sculpting student, the stakes are quite high and “pressure can take the wind out of your sails but it can also make you raise your game. You can see what is possible and you can ask for help.” Often you can ask for other sculptors to share their techniques and some are generous in assisting you, alongside the support of the tutors. It’s obviously not easy and Louis has had moments where he’s felt overwhelmed by what he’s learning to accomplish but says that he just has to push through these times. There is very intense focus all day and working around other people, can make your skills and work, feel exposed, but again you have to learn to embrace the challenge of this.
Louis is in his second year now at the FAA and will complete his training here in July 2026 when he finishes his final project. Sometimes, students are asked to stay on at the FAA for a fourth year. Each term, students’ work is critiqued, to keep them on track. There are 7 trainee sculptors in Louis’ particular year but every day, he works with approximately 11 other artists/sculptors in the drawing room, making drawings from a life model and then he also works with 3 other sculptors in the sculpting room. A typical sculpting student week at the FAA is: Monday – Friday, with the daily hours being either 8:45am-4pm, or 8:45am-7pm.
Future sculpting career plans:
Louis wants to make sculpture accessible for everyone because it can still be seen by some unfamiliar with it, as an elitist art and so once he’s back in the UK, he would like to follow in the footsteps of The Sculpture School in Devon and teach sculpture and widen the participation of those who give it a go! Louis would also love to run his own sculpture school at some point and sculpt his own figures (he particularly likes sculpting full figure anatomical models, detailing the technicalities of the human body and he’d also love to sculpt Warhammer figures!)
Louis’ advice to other potential sculptors in the UK: “Tip that domino!”
Start your journey by taking a sculpting course at The Sculpture School in Devon, UK under the fantastic tuition of Andrew Sinclair! Louis is highly grateful to Andrew for enabling him to get an incredible foundation in the art of sculpture and to Diane too, for dealing with all the practicalities of Louis’ training at The Sculpture School. Also if wanting to sculpt people, Louis advises to really familiarise yourself with the human body and attend as many life drawing classes as possible and finally, JUST GO FOR IT!!
