Simon Gudgeon is a contemporary sculptor, working primarily in bronze with a diverse range of subject matter.

Alongside his sculpture work, Simon and his wife Monique have created Sculpture by the Lakes, a sculpture park set in 26 acres of beautiful Dorset countryside just outside Dorchester.

Simon’s inspiration comes from an enormous variety of sources, but he is mostly influenced by what he sees in nature and the world around him. Living and working, as he does, alongside the banks of one of Britain’s prettiest rivers and surrounded by lakes and wetlands, he takes advantage of the huge number of birds that visit the sculpture park.

Simon Gudgeon has a signature smoothstyle that marvellously concentrates spirit and nature. His minimalist, semi-abstract forms depict both movement and emotion of a moment captured with a visual harmony that is unmistakably his own.

 

Q: What would be your perfect day out in Dorset?

A: A walk on the beach with our dogs followed by fish and chips.

 

Q: What are your fondest memories of the county?

A: The day we opened Sculpture by the Lakes in 2011 and seeing how it has changed and evolved over the years.

 

Q: Where do you get your inspiration from?

A: Everything I see and everything I read.

 

Q: What would be your favourite thing to do when you have a day off?

A: I love riding my motorbike and am also a volunteer rider for YFW Blood Bikes, a charity which transports urgent medical supplies and samples throughout the county, so any outing on two wheels would be good.

 

Q: Where is your favourite place to eat in the county?

A: The Wiseman at West Stafford – and The Gallery Café at Sculpture by the Lakes of course!

 

Q: What has been your proudest achievement?

A: My sculptures placed in wonderful public locations around the world:

• Serenity in Hyde Park, London and also America’s National Museum of Wildlife Art in Wyoming,

• Leaf Spirit in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

• Search for Enlightenment at the Cirque du Soleil headquarters, Montreal.

 

Q: What three things do you associate with Dorset?

A: The inspiring landscape, the birdlife and the huge variety of locally-produced food which we use in The Gallery Café.

 

Q: If you could summarise the county in one word what would it be?

A: Idyllic