Ken Turnell Obituary

Other lives: Artist, sculptor and art teacher who specialised in making sand creations on beaches

My father, Ken Turnell, who has died aged 77, was an artist, sculptor and art teacher whose work explored the primal human need to mark our place within the natural world.

As a young artist his sculptures featured in the 1976 Summer Show at the Serpentine Gallery in London and in 1981 his work appeared at the British Sculpture in the Twentieth Century exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, also in London.

In addition Ken was a pivotal figure in the establishment of the Grizedale Sculpture Park in Cumbria, where a number of his works, including The Eye (1984) and Beech Watch (1978) are exhibited.

From the mid-1980s drawing became his central practice, and then later he began creating large-scale sand drawings, between 2000 and 2016, on the beach at King Edward’s Bay in Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear. His sand creations captured the temporal nature of existence – delineating intricate forms only to have them erased by the turning tide.

Born in Sheffield to Kenneth, a shipyard welder, and Anne (nee Wiffin), a housewife, as a child Ken moved to Heworth in Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, where he attended Jarrow grammar school in the 60s and also went to Saturday art classes at Newcastle University.

He later completed a foundation diploma at Hornsey College of Art in north London, then a diploma in art and design at Maidstone College of Art in Kent, followed by postgraduate studies at Chelsea College of Arts in London.

He earned his living thereafter as an enlightened and enlightening teacher at various art colleges in the London area, including Wimbledon, St Martin’s, and Central School of Art & Design; in 1989 the last two merged as Central St Martins.

On retirement in 2013 Ken moved to Tavira in southern Portugal, where he spent his final years observing the spectacular sunsets from his studio. He also exhibited locally, and ran art classes in São Brás de Alportel until late 2025.

He is survived by his partner, Karen Livingstone, and two children, Tom and me, from his marriage to Audrey (nee Keenan), which ended in divorce in the late 80s.