Meet Fiona & Alec:
Fiona and Alec are award-winning sculptors with over 25 years' experience of creating timeless pieces for public displays and private collections. Their established studio has produced original artworks for prestigious clients such as Oxford University, The Roald Dahl Foundation, and Westminster Abbey, and has commemorated beloved figures from Princess Diana to John Betjeman.
They both studied at The City & Guilds of London Art School and were traditionally trained in sculpture and lettercutting. Today, they have a portfolio of work that has been displayed in some of the UK's best known buildings and parks. They create original, handmade artworks and undertake bespoke commissions.
See Fiona & Alec's Curriculum Vitae below for commissions, exhibitions and publications. Highlights include:
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A series of new gargoyles for the exterior of the Bodleian Library at Oxford University (winner Oxford Preservation Trust Award)
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Stone and bronze sculptures celebrating the natural world, integrated into a new building complex at Highgate School (winner RIBA London award)
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The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk: a seven-mile walk through the Royal Parks of London waymarked by 98 plaques set in the ground, journeying around famous buildings and locations in London associated with the Princess during her life.
Fiona carves stone sculpture and models clay for casting in bronze. Her allegorical work is inspired by the countryside surrounding her studio and also by ancient symbolism. She discovers natural shapes of stones and rock to influence the basis of her carving and has created a series of carved stone heads and torsos from this theme.
Her work has been commissioned for schools, churches, museums, public parks and private homes, including the Royal Society, Marlborough College School, and The Rathbones Folio Prize. She has made a decorative trail of garden carvings for Hogarth's House, London, award winning sculpture for Highgate School and the University of Oxford. Her sculptures have been exhibited in galleries and garden exhibitions and featured by The National Trust as well as being held in private collections around the UK, in Europe and the USA.
Alec designs and makes sculpture, and cuts lettering by hand in stone. His award-winning work includes monuments in churches and cathedrals; poetry in the landscape, garden features and public installations, whilst also specialising in individually sculpted plaques and architectural carving.
He has been commissioned to design and create carved stone artworks and memorials for Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk, London, The Betjeman Millennium Park, The Roald Dahl Foundation, Oxford University, Westminster Abbey & St Paul's Cathedral.
Itchen Navigation Arts Project Film
Alec Peever cutting letters for milestones to be place along the Itchen Navigation Trail in Hampshire. Part of the Itchen Navigation Arts Project led by artist Abigail Downer.
Created as part of Itchen Navigation Arts Project, commissioned by the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust with the aim of engaging a wider audience in the Itchen Navigation Heritage Trail Project.
CURRICULUM VITAE:
TRAINING
Alec 1974 - 1977 City & Guilds of London Art School
Advanced and Experimental Lettering.
Fiona 1982 - 1984 City & Guilds of London Art School
AWARDS
2007 Arts Council research and development
2014 Oxford Preservation Trust
2017 RIBA London Award
PUBLICATIONS
1984 The Complete Guide to Calligraphy. Judy Martin. Quiller Press
1985 Lettering & Applied Calligraphy. Rosemary Sassoon. Thames & Hudson.
1989 Heraldry. John Martin Robinson. Chatto & Windus
1990 Festival Landmarks. National Garden Festival, Gateshead.
1995 Making Tracks. Rosalind Merchant. Oxfordshire County Council.
2000 A Walk for Diana. Tom Corby. Royal Parks Agency.
ARTICLES & REVIEWS
1981 House & Garden
1981 Daily Telegraph
1988 Crafts Magazine
1988 The Independent
1988 Oxford Times ‘Limited Edition’
1990 Arts Review
1990 Oxford Times
1991 Financial Times
1991 The Countryman
1993 Physics Review
1994 BBC Music Magazine
1994 Crafts Magazine
1995 Topos. European Landscape Magazine
1995 Perspectives in Architecture
1999 Cotswold Life
2000 Evening Standard Daily Express Guardian The Times Independent
2002 The Market Place. West Oxford publication.
2011 Television appearance, Flog It. BBC One
2010 The Stone Library, Migrating Stones. BBC Radio 4
2014 History In The Making. Sky TV
2017 Architects Journal
2017 e-architect
2017 Gazette and Herald review
2017 Gardens Illustrated Magazine "most wanted"
EXHIBITIONS INCLUDE
1980 New Faces. British Craft Centre, London
1980 Art in Action, Oxford
1981 Living Letters. Crafts Study Centre, Bath
1981 A Wood Exhibition. Sunderland & Touring
1982 Making It. Crafts Council Gallery, London
1982 International Woodcarving Exhibition. Parnham House
1982 Prophecy & Vision. Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery
1984 Enhancing Our Inheritance, London
1984 A Closer Look at Lettering. Crafts Council Gallery, London
1984 The Artist & the Church. Leicester Museum & Art Gallery.
1988 Open Show. Contemporary Applied Arts, London
1988 Lettering & The Printed Word. Cirencester Workshops
1989 The Spirit of the Letter. Portsmouth City Museum & Art Gallery
1990 Stonecarving. St Giles Church, Oxford.
1991 The Avant Garden. Barbican Arts Centre, London
1993 The Art of Embellishment. Shad Thames Gallery, London
1994 Crafts Showcase. Abingdon Museum
1995 Letterati. Oxford Gallery
1995 From Maquette to Monument. Rochdale Art Gallery. One man show.
1996 Individual Characters. Southern Arts Touring Exhibition
1997 Fresh Air. Quenington Sculpture Show, Gloucestershire
1998 L is for Lettering. Cornwall Crafts Association, Trelowarren
1999 Last Words. Salisbury Poetry Festival.
1999 The Garden Gallery Summer Exhibition. Broughton, Hants.
1999 Crafts in Churches. Burford Church, Oxfordshire
2001 Crafts in Gardens. Stanton Harcourt Manor, Oxfordshire
2002 In Memoriam. One man show. St Giles Church, Oxford
2003 Stone, Fire, Paper, Water. Group Show, West Ox Arts. Bampton, Oxon
2003 Speaking Stones 3. Mill Dene Garden, Blockley, Glos.
2003 Turrill Sculpture Exhibition. Oxford
2003 Crafts in Gardens. Broughton Castle, Oxon
2004 Art for your Garden. West Ox Arts, Bampton
2005 Angels. St Giles Church, Oxford
2012 Hidcote Gardens, Gloucestershire. Sculpture Trail
2014 Oxfordshire Artweeks garden exhibition
2015 Handmade For Highgate. London
2016 Oxfordshire Artweeks Artist's open Studio
2016 Avebury Manor, Wiltshire. National Trust Sculpture Trail
2017 Oxfordshire Artweeks Artist's open Studio & Gallery
2017 Avebury Manor Garden, Wiltshire. National Trust Sculpture Exhibition
2019 Oxfordshire Artweeks Artist's open Studio & Gallery
2020 The Ironstone Prize, Banbury Museum
2020 Sculpture In The Landscape, Friends Of The Garden, West Leaze, Wiltshire
POSITIONS HELD
Represented on the Crafts Council Index of Craftspeople since 1979
1984-1990 Executive Committee. Council for the Care of Churches
1985 Elected Member of The Artworkers Guild
1989-1994 Oxford Diocesan Advisory Committee
1994-1995 Southern Arts Craft Panel
1999-2004 Trustee, Memorials by Artists
2004- 2007 Chairman, West Oxfordshire Arts Association
MAJOR COMMISSIONS INCLUDE
1986 Chichester Cathedral. Memorial To Dean Walter Hussey
1986 Peterborough Cathedral. Memorial to Katherine of Aragon
1987 St Paul’s Cathedral. Memorial to Sir Henry Wellcome
1988 Westminster Abbey. Memorial to Matthew Arnold
1989 Tunsgate Square, Guildford. Mural brick carving
1990 Gateshead Garden Festival. Sundial Sculpture with Sioban Coppinger
1994 Canterbury Cathedral. Memorial to St Anselm
1994 Royal Victoria Country Park, Southampton. D-Day Memorial
1995 Swindon. Poetry & Sculpture Trail
1995 Winchester Cathedral. Commemorative Plaques
1996 Royal Quays, Tyne & Wear. Poetry installations with Linda France. Civic Trust Award
1996 Truro Cathedral. Commemorative floor plaque
1997 High Wycombe. Poetry installation, Jack Scruton Garden
1997 Wells Cathedral. Commemorative boards.
1998 Lee Valley Park, Stanstead Abbots. Public Art poetry installation.
1998 Hampshire County Council. Bronze lettering, Winchester Law Courts
1998 Birmingham Cathedral. Commemorative tablets.
1998 Oxford County Museum, Woodstock. Commemorative water feature.
1998 Winchester Cathedral. Memorial to Royal Green Jackets.
1999 Hampshire Sculpture Trust. Sculpture with lettering, Littleton, Winchester.
1999 St Paul’s Cathedral. Memorial to Dean Evans
1999 Various Millennium monuments, Alnwick, Berrick Salome, Bellingham, Holton, etc.
2000 Royal Parks of London. Memorial waymarkers for Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk
2000 British Embassy, Moscow. Commemorative opening feature.
2000 Stony Stratford. Five Gateway Marker features.
2001 The Post Office, Rugby. Commemorative sculpture with lettering
2001 Magdalen College, Oxford. War memorial
2001 Wantage, Oxon. John Betjeman Memorial Park. Poetry installations.
2001 Bath. Poetry pavement, Milsom Street
2001 St Paul’s Cathedral. Memorial to Baron O’Brien
2001 Lee Valley Park, London. Carved Sculpture memorial.
2002 Millennium Monument. Woodstock, Oxon
2003 Winchester Cathedral. Gurkha Memorial
2003 Great Missenden, Bucks. Memorial to Roald Dahl
2003 Winchester Cathedral. Memorial to Bishop John Taylor
2004 St Pauls Cathedral. Memorial to Sir Humphrey Gibbs
2005 St John’s Church, Cardiff. Memorial to Sir Owen Temple-Morris
2005 Hampshire County Council. Sculptures, Glebe Gardens, Basingstoke
2006 St Paul’s Cathedral. Memorial to Sir Bertram Ramsay.
2007 Pillgwenlly Park, Newport, S. Wales. Public Art poetry installation.
2007 Recipient of major Arts Council grant for research into Mexican Sculpture and development of own studio output.
2008 Slough Town Centre. Public Art multi-cultural poetry installations
2008 Chichester Cathedral. Memorial to 12C Bishop Ralph de Luffa.
2009 Bodeian Library, Oxford. 9 new carved stone Gargoyles.
2009 Chichester Cathedral. Memorial to Gustav Holst.
2009 The Stone Library, Migrating Stones. Carved forms with poetry by Alyson Hallett
2010 Darwin’s Obelisk. University Museum, Oxford.
2010 Rockliffe Hall, Teesside. Poetry & sculpture installation.
2010 Bodleian Library, Oxford. New Benefactors’ panel.
2011 Word sculpture, Moorbank Botanical Gardens, Newcastle University.
2012 Carvings & decorative metal screens, Highgate School, London.
2013 Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Commemorative Plaques.
2013 Westmill Woodland Burial Ground, Swindon. Standing stone.
2014 The Alchester Project, Military Museum, Woodstock, Oxfordshire. Commemorative Plaques.
2014 The Dickson Poon University of Oxford China Centre, Oxford. Royal commemorative Plaques.
2015 Kew Bridge Pumping Station development project, St James's. Sculpture with poetry Installations.
2015 OGM, Oxford. Focal stone Sculpture.
2016 The Longwall Library, Magdalen College, Oxford University. Benefactors panel, Royal commemorative plaques and stone signs.
2016 Winchester College new Library and Hall buildings, Winchester. Commemorative stone bench and glass screens.
2016 The Henry Box School, Oxfordshire. Stone and bronze sculptures with carved poetry.
2016 Highgate Junior School new building, London. Stone and bronze sculptures, architectural lettering, decorative gates.
2016 Winchester College Treasury, Hampshire. Benefactors commemorative glass panels.
2017 Downing College, Cambridge University. Commemorative benefactor slate plaque.
2017 Oxford University, Lady Margaret Hall. Commemorative focal sculpture and plaque.
2018 Kingham Church, large welsh slate commemorative memorial plaque.
2019 St Giles War Memorial Oxford, Inscription.
2019 Sculpture 'Coming Home' Tilbury Fields, Oxford.
2020 Sculpture 'Inspiration', The Rathbones Folio Prize.
2020 Hogarth's House, London, hand carved stone decorative garden markers.
2020 The Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, commemorative sculpture.
2021 St Catherine's College, Oxford University, building title stone and architectural lettering for the new Rotunda.
2022 Institute for Developmental and Regenerative Medicine, IMS Tetsuya Nakamura Building, University of Oxford, commemorative plaque.
2023 Commemorative Plaque to William Byrd, Lincoln Cathedral