Peoples Republic of South Devon

Borne on the cob

May 24th, 2008

Jackie Abey and Jill Smallcombe have made artworks out of earth works. To impart their knowledge and to show off their skills (which are considerable) they will be at the Appledore Arts Festival, and they will be teaching on the Dartmoor Arts Project in July (July 26 - August 2). Lee Morgan speaks to these cob specialist

What is cob?

Jackie Abey reaches into her bag to pull out two hunking squares of what could be marble. One’s honey coloured, the other is an earthy red.

‘That,’ she says, ‘˜is cob.’

Jackie Abey and Jill Smallcombe have been working together in the medium, which is a nice way of saying mud, since the two of them got together to make a cob sculpture for Chagford Arts Festival out of remixed 400-year-old cob. That was 12 years ago, and since then they’ve been experimenting with it for their sculptural structures and art works. And both of them live in cob houses.

Through the incarnation of Abey Smallcombe these cobbers (or cob experts or cob artists) have taken the versatility, strength and unique nature of cob along with their artistic vision and enthusiasm into a beautiful sculptural cob waiting room/toilets at the Eden Project, cob summer houses for the National Trust and SW Lakes Trust and shelters for Sustrans Cycle Routes. They are also working at Landscore, Hennock and Doddiscombleigh Primary Schools, and are fresh from their week at Eco Build at Earls Court.

Apparently one of the most popular questions throughout the exhibition was ‘what is cob?’ Undeterred they launch into an explanation, the smile still in place and with an undinting energy.

Cob is subsoil mixed with straw and water. It’s mixed with a lot of stamping, then built up in layers and shaped accordingly. It dries very hard in the air. The walls are thick and it’s incredibly strong, as long as water doesn’t get in the top of it. Traditionally, you only build with cob ‘between the swallows arriving and the swallows flying’ to ensure (as far as possible) good working conditions. You must give it ‘a good hat and a good pair of boots’ to stop the water getting in.

‘There are 40,000 cob buildings still in use,’ says Jackie, and plenty of them are in Devon – cob is a south west speciality. ‘Typically they are thatched and chocolate boxy.’ Like the houses that the pair themselves live in. But living in earth isn’t just a Devon phenomenon. One-third of the world’s population still live in earth-built homes and the variety and styles change throughout the world.

Earth building is incredibly sustainable.

‘Earth is pure with nothing added. It has been used for centuries and there is a place for it in the future,’ says Jill. But the Abey Smallcombe story starts 12 years ago when the two artists who live in cob houses embarked on their collaboration, creating a figurative cob sculpture.

‘The legs fell off, the arms fell off,’ says Jackie. ‘But we were learning all the time and we haven’t looked back. Our sculptures are integeral to our work. They allow us to play with the material and we have recently embarked on a new series of conceptual abstract pieces.’ However, it was the design and build and scale of the bus shelter at the Eden Project that was the watershed. They were able to demonstrate modern flowing design, exciting use of light and an ability to improvise that reflected their artistic standing.

Jackie says: ‘We spend a lot of our time educating people about the possiblities of cob, through workshops and lectures.’

During the courses and workshops they are able to get bricklayers and architects working alongside arts. ‘It creates a whole new buzz,’ says Jackie.

And there’s something universal and fundamental, about working with soil – it ties you to the past and is tied with human development. On one hand, it’s simple – children love playing with mud and creating their pies – and yet it can be incredibly sophisticated: Jackie and Jill have experimented with hair, hemp, flax and nettles instead of straw for a finer mix to create unusual earth plasters and other finishes.

And despite their eco build credentials and their commitment to education, not least through their 3 Little Pigs projects in primary schools or the work they do with Farms for City Children, or even their work on the Dartmoor Arts Project, the pair are artists at heart and are looking to further their arts practice. They have exhibited at the Spacex Gallery, Exeter Phoenix, the Architecture Centre, Chelsea Flower show, Broomhill, Delamore and Cotehele.

With the external sculptures, water damage can create a beautiful disintegration. They opted for gold leaf to protect the points of their Broomhill sculpture, which glinted in the sunlight. When Jackie and Jill talk of the future they have their own glint in their eyes – and why not, the earth’s their oyster.

For more on cob and the varied earth works of Jackie Abey and Jill Smallcombe visit their website.
they will also be part of the Dartmoor Arts Project

• Jill has written a book with Jane Schofield: Cob Buildings – A Practical Guide Published by Black Dog Press.
ISBN 0 9524341 5 6.

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Entry Filed under: Arts