Seaham's Tommy and the work of East Durham artist

Ray Lonsdale

"A steel fabricator from Durham, sculpture has always been Ray’s passion. Following the achievement of winning The People’s Award within the Hanging Jury Competition 2003 in Newcastle, Ray is now receiving increasing acclaim and attention for his highly distinctive and thought provoking work. His collections to date show the sculptor’s fascination with the human form. Built from steel, his work conveys incredible sensitivity and emotion, often providing deep moments of reflection". this is an extract from Ray's website

Ray's creations convey great feeling and emotion to stand in from of the iconic figure of 'Tommy', Eleven 0 One, it is impossible not to feel the relief, despair and the sadness that soldiers of The Great War would have felt.

'Tommy' has, thanks to the Keep Tommy Campaign, become a permanent feature attraction of Seaham's Terrace Green where it is poignantly positioned in within site of the War Memorial that pays tribute to all those who gave their lives for the greater good.    

            




                                              
For more information on Ray's work please visit his web site www.tworedrubberthings.co.uk

A range of postcards, framed and unframed prints are available of the above photographs at the East Durham Heritage & Lifeboat Centre at Seaham Harbour Marina.

 
       The Seaham RNLI Station  Memorial project
This is Ray Lonsdale's design sketch for the proposed memorial which will stand on the Seaham Harbour Marina East Quay in sight of both lifeboat houses from which Seaham's lifeboats were launched during the 109 years of the station's life.
 Ray will create the memorial in the same way as all of his iconic artworks, it will convey the feeling of dedication and selfless commitment of the many crew members who served and in some cases gave their lives to save those in peril.

The East Durham Heritage Group are currently securing funds to allow the project to begin, it is hoped to unveil the memorial by the end of 2016.
          

                         

Other artwork by Ray Lonsdale

                   
Besides pieces of larger public art Ray undertakes private commissions and limited edition pieces, we have shown below a small section.