Tim Tolkien (born October 1962) is an English sculptor who has designed several monumental sculptures, including the award-winning Sentinel.

This article needs to be updated. (December 2019)

Tim Tolkien
Sentinel near the Jaguar works in Castle Bromwich, formerly the Castle Bromwich Assembly Spitfire factory
Born	October 1962 (age 59–60)
Nationality	English
Known for	Sculpture
Notable work	Sentinel

He has a metal sculpture and public Art business at Cradley Heath, West Midlands. He is also a bass player and member of the band Klangstorm, founded in 1996.

Early life

Tim is the great-nephew of the writer J. R. R. Tolkien. He was raised in the village of Hughenden Valley and went to the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe. He graduated with a degree in fine art (sculpture) from the University of Reading in 1984.

Works

Sentinel

Sentinel is Tolkien's most famous work to date. In 1996, he was appointed by CAN[1] who were awarded the contract to develop public art proposals for the estate using National Lottery money, as an artist in residence to help with regeneration of the Castle Vale estate in Birmingham. The following year, he consulted with residents about an art project for the entrance to the estate. They favoured a sculpture featuring Spitfires, reflecting the area's flying history and particularly the Castle Bromwich Assembly which stood nearby. The large steel and aluminium Sentinel Spitfire sculpture was the result, showing three Spitfires peeling off up into the air in different directions. It was unveiled on 14 November 2000, near the former factory which built them, by their former test pilot Alex Henshaw.

Cedric Hardwicke

Tolkien also sculpted a memorial to the actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke, at the latter's birthplace of Lye, West Midlands, for Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. The memorial takes the form of a giant filmstrip, the illuminated cut metal panels illustrating scenes from some of Sir Cedric's best-known roles, which include The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Shape of Things to Come, and The Ghost of Frankenstein. It was unveiled in November 2005.

Ent

His proposals for a 20-foot (6.1 meter) high statue of Treebeard, an Ent from The Lord of the Rings, to be erected on the Green at Moseley, near J. R. R. Tolkien's childhood home in Birmingham, have met with some controversy, but permission for its erection – originally scheduled for May 2007 – was granted by Birmingham City Council.[2][3]

Catalogue

Work	Location (Birmingham unless stated)	Date	Picture	Coordinates (With links to map and aerial photo sources)	Notes
James Watt's Mad Machine	Winson Green Metro station	1998 (1998)		52.497216°N 1.931290°W / 52.497216; -1.931290	Supported by Eric Klein Velderman, Paula Woof and local school pupils.[4]
Lanchester Car Monument	Nechells	1995 (1995)		52.4930°N 1.8729°W / 52.4930; -1.8729	On the site of the development of the first British petrol-engined car[5]
Mosaics	Menzies High School, Sandwell				With Eric Klein Velderman and pupils.[6]
Millennium Sculpture	St.Nicholas School, Kenilworth	2001 (2001)			With pupils[7]
Dragonfly sculpture	Hembrook Infants and Junior school, Warwickshire	May 2003 (2003-05)			With Emma Dicks[8]
Gateway	Belle Vue Primary School, Stourbridge				[9]
Archway	Springhallow School, Ealing				With pupils.[10]
Memorial to Sir Cedric Hardwicke	Lye, West Midlands	November 2005 (2005-11)		52.458776°N 2.117764°W / 52.458776; -2.117764
Bluebell	Sot's Hole Local Nature Reserve, West Bromwich	2008 (2008)		52.527268°N 1.984727°W / 52.527268; -1.984727	[11]
Gate	Sot's Hole Local Nature Reserve, West Bromwich	2008 (2008)		52.527202°N 1.984665°W / 52.527202; -1.984665	[11]
Gates	RSPB Sandwell Valley			52.535371°N 1.947992°W / 52.535371; -1.947992
Sentinel	Castle Bromwich	14 November 2000 (2000-11-14)		52.5134°N 1.7981°W / 52.5134; -1.7981
Cardinal Newman statue	Cofton Park, Birmingham	2010 (2010)			[12]
Gate	Holly Wood Local Nature Reserve, Sandwell	2012 (2012)		52.548281°N 1.925456°W / 52.548281; -1.925456	[13]

Tolkien also undertook the redesign of Lea Hall railway station, Birmingham, with Eric Klein Velderman; completed in 1998)[14]

Other notable work

He has also worked with the singer and television presenter Toyah Willcox, designing her armour-like stage costumes and, in 2005, making a documentary film for BBC2, comparing New Zealand's successful exploitation of its movie-related J. R. R. Tolkien associations, with that of J.R.R.'s (and Toyah's) home town, Birmingham.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tim Tolkien.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Tim Tolkien.

• Sentinel Spitfire sculpture
• Birmingham Post: Tolkien statue plan splits community
• Lye movie star gets civic honour
• Klangstorm
  • review
  • archived website
• Toyah
  • Armour for Toyah
  • Film with Toyah

На других языках

[es] Tim Tolkien

[fr] Tim Tolkien

[it] Tim Tolkien

[ru] Толкин, Тимоти