Steve Field (sculptor)

Steve Field
RBSA
Born
Stephen Field

(1954-05-03) 3 May 1954 (age 70)
Saltash, Cornwall, England
NationalityEnglish
Occupations

Stephen (Steve) Field RBSA (born 3 June 1954 in Saltash, Cornwall) is an English sculptor, muralist and mosaicist, active mainly in the West Midlands, particularly the Black Country, where a number of his works are on public display. He has been resident artist and public art adviser to Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, since 1988,[1][2] and is a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists,[3] the Contemporary Glass Society[4] and the British Association of Modern Mosaic.[4] He coordinated Dudley's Millennium Sculpture Trail.[5]

He studied at the University of Sheffield, earning a degree in architecture, and Wolverhampton Polytechnic, where he achieved a master's degree in fine art.[1] He cites his influences as futurism and vorticism, the sculptor Walter Ritchie,[6] his MPhil examiner David Harding, and the Mexican muralists.

In 1978 he painted a series of three murals on the gable ends of terraced houses at the eastern end of Heathfield Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, in conjunction with Paula Woof and Mark Renn.[7] These murals lasted around 27 years before being overpainted by new murals. In 1982, he painted an internal mural at Frankley Community School, together with Woof and Renn.[8] The trio worked as "The Mural Company" and were profiled in a 1982 Central Television documentary, "Round About".[7] In June–July 1984, Field and Renn exhibited on murals, jointly, at Bilston Museum and Art Gallery.[9]

Field, Woof, Renn, David Patten and Derek Jones worked jointly as the West Midlands Public Art Collective, which was active circa 1987.[10]

He received the Royal Society of Arts 'Art for Architecture' Award in 1993 and an Arts and Business Award in 2005.[3]

Field is married to fellow muralist Cathryn Ryall, with whom he has collaborated artistically. Field has also completed several collaborations with the sculptor John McKenna.[11]

Works

Picture Work Location Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Coordinates
(With links to map and aerial photo sources) 		Owner Notes
Birth of Pegasus Brotherton Street, Pye Bank, Sheffield 1977 (1977) Mural Dulux paint 53°23′41″N 1°27′50″W / 53.39476°N 1.46397°W / 53.39476; -1.46397 Depicts Pegasus. Completed as part of Field's degree studies at Sheffield University. Paint donated by Dulux. The house on which this was painted was due for demolition in 2010.[12][13]


Handsworth Triptych Heathfield Road, Handsworth, Birmingham 1978 (1978) Mural Emulsion paint 52°30′29″N 1°54′18″W / 52.50802°N 1.90502°W / 52.50802; -1.90502 Set of three murals, depicting African wildlife. Since overpainted.


City of a Thousand Trades Bell Street Passage, Birmingham 1987 (1987) Relief
  • fibreglass
  • Pre-existing ceramic tiles, etched by sandblasting
 Made by the West Midlands Public Art Collective; commissioned by the then West Midlands County Council; lost[10]


Industries of the Lye Lye 1989 (1989) Mural [14] Removed 2010 (2010)


Cameo Stourbridge bus interchange 1994 (1994) Mosaics and anamorphic columns Centro Mosaics of a grey heron and a cockerel, based on cameo glass from nearby Broadfield House Glass Museum.[15]


Sunbeam Car Panels St. John's Retail Park, Wolverhampton 1995 (1995) Relief Bronze 3m by 2m 52°34′47″N 2°07′38″W / 52.57963°N 2.12734°W / 52.57963; -2.12734 (approx) (with John McKenna ARBS sculptor)[11]


The Lone Rider Penn Road, Blakenhall, Wolverhampton 1996 (1996) Sculpture Hoptonwood limestone 52°34′33″N 2°08′09″W / 52.57586°N 2.13580°W / 52.57586; -2.13580 Marks the site of the former AJS motorcycle factory. Carved by Robert Bowers, assisted by Michael Scheuermann.[11][16]


Moonstones Asda supermarket, Queslett Road, Great Barr 1998 (1998) Carving Stone 52°33′09″N 1°54′32″W / 52.5526°N 1.9088°W / 52.5526; -1.9088 Asda Nine stones, depicting members of the Lunar Society[17]


Sleipnir Hill, overlooking Wednesbury Great Western Street metro stop 1998 (1998) 52°32′50″N 2°01′35″W / 52.5471°N 2.0265°W / 52.5471; -2.0265 Depicting Sleipnir, Odin's mythical eight-legged horse[18]


Maypole Junction of Maypole Street and Windmill Bank, Wombourne 1999 (1999) Sculpture Steel 52°32′09″N 2°11′09″W / 52.53593°N 2.18584°W / 52.53593; -2.18584 Wombourne Parish Council Includes mosaic work by Cathryn Ryall.[11][19]


Salamander in Flames Flood Street Island, Dudley 2000 (2000) 52°30′26″N 2°04′51″W / 52.50720°N 2.08085°W / 52.50720; -2.08085 Part of Dudley Millennium Sculpture Trail. Lettering by Malcolm Sier. Fabrication by Apollo Engineering, Brierley Hill.[2] Depicts a salamander, in reference to salamanders in metallurgy.


Fleet Air Arm Memorial National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas 2009 (2009) Granite, on a Portland stone base


Hovering Kestrel Citadel Logistics Centre, Bilston 2011 (2011) Stainless steel 52°34′06″N 2°03′19″W / 52.56847°N 2.05526°W / 52.56847; -2.05526 (with John McKenna ARBS Sculptor)
Fons Juventis Park Hall Academy, Castle Bromwich 2011 (2011) Stainless steel Park Hall Academy Relief sculpture. Artist's sketch pictured


Civil war sculpture Stevens Park, Wollescote 2011 (2011) (with Graham Jones)[20] Depicts Prince Rupert hiding from the Roundheads in the well at Wollescote Hall.


Anamorphic Portico West Bromwich bus station 1999 (1999)-2002 Mosaic and anamorphic column 52°31′02″N 1°59′42″W / 52.51728°N 1.99499°W / 52.51728; -1.99499 Images loosely derived from David Christie Murray's book A Capful o' Nails.[4][15]


Giant pictorial sundial Measham Millennium Green 2002 (2002) Sundial 52°42′13″N 1°30′32″W / 52.70358°N 1.50878°W / 52.70358; -1.50878 Commemorating Joseph Wilkes.[4][21]


Bibliography

Field has also written articles about his work:

  • Ostler, Timothy; Field, Steve (18 January 1984). "Working With Artists: 1 Possibilities". Architects' Journal. 179 (3): 55–59, 61–66.
  • —— (Spring 2003). "A Trail through Time – Dudley's Millennium Sculpture Trail". The Blackcountryman. 36 (2): 41. ISSN 0006-4335.
  • —— (Summer 2003). "Commemorating Wolverhampton's Historic Vehicles". The Blackcountryman. 36 (3): 53. ISSN 0006-4335.
  • —— (Autumn 2003). "The Story of Sleipnir". The Blackcountryman. 36 (4): 31. ISSN 0006-4335.

References

Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

  1. ^ a b "Public Art". Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Millennium Sculpture Trail – Flood Street Island". BBC Online. 2003. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Stephen Field". Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d "Mosaic Image – About Us". Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Dudley Millennium Sculpture Trail". BBC Online. 2003. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  6. ^ Suart, Paul (20 July 2011). "Emotional Return to Mark 60 Years". Birmingham Evening Mail. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013 – via HighBeam.
  7. ^ a b "Round About". MACE Archive. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  8. ^ Ostler, Timothy; Field, Steve (18 January 1984). "Working With Artists: 1 Possibilities". Architects' Journal. 179 (3): 55–59, 61–66.
  9. ^ "Gallery listings". Art Monthly (77): 41. 1 June 1984.
  10. ^ a b Tilson, Barbara (November 1991). "Art for the People". RIBA Journal. 98 (11): 41.
  11. ^ a b c d Noszlopy, George Thomas; Waterhouse, Fiona (1 January 2005). Public Sculpture of Staffordshire and the Black Country. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 9780853239895.
  12. ^ "Field, Steve: 'Pegasus' mural". Public Art Research Archive. Sheffield Hallam University. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  13. ^ "Mythical mural". Burngreave Messenger. October 2006. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  14. ^ Bennett, John (1990). Public Art Guide. Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. p. 41. ISBN 0900911271.
  15. ^ a b "Anamorphic Mosaics". Mosaic Image. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  16. ^ "The Lone Rider". The Lone Rider. Public Monuments and Sculpture Association. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  17. ^ Noszlopy, George T. (1998). Public Sculpture of Birmingham. Jeremy Beach (ed.). Liverpool University Press. ISBN 0853236925.
  18. ^ "'Silly' Statue Sparks Row; Horse sculptor defends work". Birmingham Evening Mail. 8 July 1998. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013 – via HighBeam.
  19. ^ "Maypole". Public Monuments and Sculpture Association. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  20. ^ "Park sculpture immortalises moment in Stourbridge history". Stourbridge News. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  21. ^ "Sundials". Mosaic Image. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
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