I have been drawn to the landscape of Blaenau Ffestiniog since I was at art college. Forty years on that fascination with slate is just as strong, but by living and working in the Ffestiniog Valley I have also come to appreciate the culture that arose from this landscape and the intuitive working of a material. As a sculptor, I am fascinated by the shaping of material and the touch of a hand upon rock. Slate is the ultimate stone for me: hold a piece in your hand and you are holding a piece of the earth’s history, a physical embodiment of ancient river mud washing into primeval seas and then being compressed over millions of years within the heat of the earth’s crust. Split the fine layers of stone and you open the earth’s pages, the first to read that history. Stack the layers and you build new stories, create new interpretations.