Bernard Pearson
In the beginning there was the Pipe. Then there was the Word. And out of the Word grew sculptures, shaped by the skilled hands of the Cunning Artificer.
Bernard Pearson has been designing and making his fantastically detailed figures of Discworld buildings and people for fifteen years. First at Clarecraft, which he established in Suffolk with his wife Isobel, and subsequently at the Discworld Emporium in Wincanton, Somerset.
Bernard was a big fan of fantasy long before having heard of Pratchett and spent decades bringing the worlds of, e.g., Tolkien and King Arthur to life. He was also responsible for designing a short run of Pern sculptures, which are now very sought after.
Apart from the figures, he has also collaborated with Terry on The Discworld Almanac and the Unseen University Cut Out Book. The latter is essentially sculpture in paper aimed at adults and, once puzzled together, is a detailed model of the Unseen University.
With the arrival of Going Postal in 2004, Bernard changed his focus to designing and making Discworld stamps. In mid-2005, he announced that due to encroaching arthritis, he would be sculpting no more buildings and that the Ankh-Morpork Post Office would be his last. This gave him more time for the stamps, which it turned out he needed. They'd started as a joke, as these things do. But before they knew where they were, Bernard and Isobel had hundreds of eager stamp collectors on their hands, ready to sell their own cats and children for a $1 Tower of Art stamp.
Now, with the release of Making Money, Bernard has turned his attention to creating a collection of strange and unique specimens, artifacts, and objet d’art from all over the unknown world - commonly referred to as The Cabinet of Curiosities. You may find the odd Discworld echo here (such as "The Ankh and the Morepork"
) but most of the artifacts on offer defy simple explanation. Or labels, for that matter.