Madeline Goold has been a stonecarver for thirty years. She was taught by John Paddison – Jacob Epstein’s last assistant, and Walter Ritchie – Eric Gill’s last apprentice, and the way she carves is the way they carved. Epstein and Gill revived the direct carving tradition which Madeline continues. Direct carving means carving straight into the stone without first making, then copying a preliminary clay or plaster model; the stone is the originating material.
Keeping the original inspiration in mind, and supported by her drawings, Madeline allows the stone itself to suggest possibilities as the work progresses. The techniques of direct carving used by Epstein and Gill and subsequently by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth are the ones that she passes on in her teaching at The Birches Studio and describes in her lectures for NADFAS.
