A sculptor who lives near and works in Swindon has appeared alongside Alan Titchmarsh on TV to demonstrate how he creates his art.

Ben Lee from Cricklade appeared on episode 29 of series 5 of Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh.

“From a boy having the dream of being a show jumper to now being on TV with Alan Titchmarsh, it’s quite amazing."

When speaking to the Adver, Ben spoke of how he often struggles to feel confident in his art but appearing on TV and the influx of orders he has received following it has helped prove to himself how talented he is at what he does.Swindon Advertiser:

When discussing what it was like to appear on the show, Ben said: “It was a bit of an out of body experience because you see these really famous people on TV and after I had the phone call about it, it didn’t really sink in until I was there.

“He (Alan Titchmarsh) is so nice, almost nicer than on TV”.

Ben explained that he has received the most amount of orders at once since starting sculpting and he hopes that the growing success of the business, which has been boosted by his TV appearance, will aid him in making this his full time job.

Ben said: “It is not an easy business to be in, it is quite hard... but this is a really big step in the right direction.

“Thanks to everybody that has got me to this position, friends, family and customers that have supported me…. you need those people to keep you going especially with how the world is at the moment, when your on your own, having those people around you who are always there to support you, it really helps.”Swindon Advertiser:

In the episode, he takes Alan through how to sculpt one of his most popular sculptures which is a hare and even shows him the sculpture of a horse which links back to where Ben’s journey started.

From the age of 12, Ben had wanted to be a showjumper and had been in the equestrian industry when his friends asked him to design the centre piece for the wedding out of horseshoes.

From there he went on to design a horse’s head which he sold on Facebook within half an hour. He then started to pursue sculpting more and now does it alongside making bespoke metal furniture at Tom Fultner in Swindon.

The episode is available now on ITVX.