BONDLEIGH-based The Sculpture School has returned from a highly successful teaching visit to Iceland, marking the first international destination for its new Sculpture School on Tour programme.

Professional figurative sculptor Andrew Sinclair MRSS SWAc, accompanied by fellow artist and Sculpture School co-director Diane Coates Sinclair, travelled to Iceland in September to deliver an intensive four-day Figurative Sculpture Workshop.

The invitation came from former Sculpture School student and Icelandic artist and woodcarver Jón Adólf Steinólfsson, who hosted the workshop in his studio in Kópavogur, near Reykjavík.

During four intensive days, Andrew introduced the group to his distinctive approach to realist figurative sculpture, developed over some 40 years as a professional sculptor.

Rather than simply copying the surface of the human body, students learn to construct the figure from the inside out, developing an understanding of proportion, anatomy and the underlying structures that create believable human form.

The workshop proved so successful that The Sculpture School has already been invited to return to Iceland in 2027.

Andrew Sinclair said: “Iceland was everything we hoped The Sculpture School on Tour could be. There is something very special about bringing artists together in their own creative environment and watching them embrace our methods. Their enthusiasm was fantastic and we were delighted by what everyone achieved in just four days.”

The Iceland visit marks an important new chapter for The Sculpture School, founded by Andrew and Diane in 2010.

After 16 years welcoming students to its specialist studio in rural Devon, the School is expanding the way it shares its knowledge through online teaching, specialist workshops and The Sculpture School on Tour.

Diane Coates Sinclair said: “Iceland was not simply a workshop; it was a wonderful exchange of skills, ideas and friendship between artists. Being invited back is the greatest compliment we could have received.”