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Jules Whiston worked for many years in the industrial metalwork welding industry. After a serious accident at work, he decided to take a change of direction. He went to study for a degree in graphic fine art at the Kent Institute of Art and Design at Canterbury. During this time he put his metal welding skills to good use working as an assistant to Sir Anthony Caro in the making of the steel sculpture, 'Caro's Tower of Discovery', commissioned by the Tate Gallery, London. For his degree show Jules concentrated on gothic iron furniture, which helped towards him gaining a B.A. Hons degree.
On starting his new life in professional art, Jules undertook to build a forge in his back garden for creating his steel sculpture and iron furniture. Working from home in the coastal town of Folkestone, Kent, his work started to be influenced by the local environment and his steel sculpture quickly took on a distinctly aquatic feel. Many of Jules early steel fish were abstract creatures, made from reclaimed materials and were strongly influenced by the recently discovered fish that lurk deep in the oceans depths, such as the Deep Sea Angler fish 'Cryptopsaras couesi' and the Hatchetfish 'Argyropelecus aculeatus'.
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Before long his fish steel sculpture started moving into a more realistic realm. Using various different techniques his fish developed amazingly colourful and life like finishes. Jules' steel stingrays 'Dasyatidae' have proved extremely popular, as have his stickleback 'Gasterosteus aculeatus'. A selection of his fish steel sculpture can be viewed in the Fish Steel Sculpture Gallery
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| Terror Fish steel sculpture, created for an exhibtion. |
Steel Chameleon and Archway, included in RHS arward winning garden. |
Swordfish steel sculpture, comissioned by customers in France. |
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| Please click on image for larger view |
Please click on image for larger view |
Please click on image for larger view |
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As the name of this website suggests, fish are Jules' main subject for his steel sculpture, but they are not his only ones. He has created many other strange creature steel sculpture, including a very large and menacing scorpion steel sculpture. This and other creature steel sculpture can be seen in the Creature Steel Sculpture Gallery.
Jules has also carried on creating many pieces of neo-gothic Iron furniture, including various different chairs and four-poster beds. Jules has also created many works of art and steel sculpture for his own garden, including a large sculptured weather station. He has also featured on the BBC TV programme Charlie's Garden Army with Charlie Dimmock, for which he built a steel water feature and two other steel sculpture. Recently his steel sculpture have featured at the urban garden show, Olympia in the "New York Roof Garden", voted best garden of the show. To view some of his garden steel sculpture, wrought iron furniture and various other pieces of Jules' work please go to the Iron and Steel Allsorts Gallery.
Jules has exhibited his steel sculpture widely in England, and has also displayed his steel sculpture at the Nausicaa Sea Life Centre in Boulogne, France. He has created many private commissions, including life size steel sculpture of a Blue Marlin 'Makaira nigricans' which graces the roof of the Fish Bar at Kensington Place Restaurant in London. He has also completed a number of public art work steel sculpture. He has had his steel sculpture on display in architects and designers showrooms in New York and Los Angeles. Three of Jules' fish steel sculpture adorn the outside of Georges House Gallery at the top of Folkestone's Old High Street, the heart of the town's new creative quarter. Jules recently took part the millennium project called, 'Like the Back of My Hand'. The project took 101 Folkestone residents, born in each of the previous 100 years and took a copy of their handprint, and cast it in bronze.
Jules has recently exhibited pieces, including Terrorfish, a steel sculpture lamp inspired by the 60's T.V. show Stingray, at Strange Cargo Arts Company's 10th birthday exhibition. His most recent project was a collaboration with Tracy Foster Garden Design, on a garden for the BBC Gardeners' World Live 2008 exhibition, for which he completed a decorated steel archway and steel plant stakes. The garden, inspired by French Post-Impressionist painter Henri Rousseau's painting The Dream, won the RHS Gold Medal and Best Small Garden in Show award.
If you are interested in purchasing one of Jules' steel sculpture or iron furniture that you have seen on his site, or you are thinking of commissioning a sculpture or some iron furniture, Jules is always attracted to new and stimulating projects, please go to the Enquires Page and fill out the simple form.
This website was created and optimized by www.bigredpencil.co.uk. If you artist looking for affordable website design, come to the bigredpencil.
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