Alan Brazier obituary

My friend Alan Brazier, who has died aged 59 of liver cancer, was a figurative sculptor in the British carving tradition epitomised by artists such as Eric Gill and Barbara Hepworth. He was a true original who had no interest in conformity.

Born to Derek, a bird breeder, and Beryl (nee Coles), Alan grew up in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. After attending the Bessemer school for boys in the town, he studied at Arts University College Bournemouth in 1974, but it was at Weymouth College under the tutelage of the master stonemason John Selman that he found his metier in stone carving. After his studies he moved to London and in 1983 established a studio in Coronet Street, Hoxton, in east London.