Christine Charlesworth is making splendid progress with the Aphra Behn statue. Having covered the skeleton (‘armature’) with little sausages of damp clay, she shaped these into the rough form of the statue before carefully, millimetre by millimetre, carving and cutting away the clay to form the precise image she is after. And all the time she has to take great pains to keep the material damp lest it crack. The most challenging – and rewarding – part is the face. Christine knows when she’s near getting it right: it’s when she starts talking to her creation! NB We’re still about £5,000 short of the required sum. Please.