Jon Edgar

Jon Edgar was born in Rustington in 1968 and was brought up in Billingshurst in West Sussex. He studied Bsc. Biology at Exeter University (1988-90) and then Msc. Landscape Ecology and Design at Wye College the University of London's agricultural college in Wye, Kent (1991). After spending eight years working on countryside management and landscape projects Edgar completed a course…

Jon Edgar was born in Rustington in 1968 and was brought up in Billingshurst in West Sussex. He studied Bsc. Biology at Exeter University (1988-90) and then Msc. Landscape Ecology and Design at Wye College the University of London's agricultural college in Wye, Kent (1991). After spending eight years working on countryside management and landscape projects Edgar completed a course at the Frink School of Figurative Sculpture in Potteries (2001-2003), where he was awarded the Discerning Eye bursary at the end of 2001.

Whilst studying at Frink, Edgar was influenced by Alan Thornhill's tuition and established himself as a figurative sculptor using Thornhill's technique of 'improvisation,' using clay and wood. Thornhill's technique is non-conceptual and abandons the tradition of a maquette. This allowed Edgar to work freely with the material, rather than relying upon pre-conceived concepts. This 'improvisation,' coupled with Edgar's previous experience studying ecology and the landscape, has influenced the organic forms in his work.

After leaving Frink, Edgar moved to Wye Valley, Herefordshire where he established himself as a sculptor. His work is now in several public collections in the UK and abroad. Edgar won the Arts Council for England award in 2003 and his work was selected for one of Chelsea Flower Show's medal wining gardens, as well as having a solo exhibition at Hereford Cathedral in the same year. Edgar has completed busts of Sir John Harvey-Jones (2004), Sir Roy Strong (2005) and, recently for Wilfred Cass (2008).