Blog
The Siberian blast
I’m feeling it here. The snow is light and dry, easily blown up by the wind to sting my face. As the next white blizzard streaks past my workshop door, I’m getting a glimpse of what it is like for Siberian sculptors! It brings to mind treasure buried in the Siberian permafrost and […]
Snowy stoat
Many layered this morning as the forecast was for really cold, glad too, as it was blizzarding at the workshop, and into the workshop! Snow gets in through the smallest gaps and holes, and seems to go round corners to find its way in and I can’t clear surfaces quickly enough. The downfalls are, […]
In the workshop today – sketching in stone
I pinched a bit of time from myself this morning, it wasn’t planned, but sometimes it is good to take a little detour. I sort of allowed myself as I made an early start – the lighter mornings help, especially this morning as the sun is shining. In the fields to the north […]
Owl and Oak leaves
I’m drawing out a design for a stone roundel to be carved with a Barn Owl in flight, oak leaves and a vole scuttling away to safety. The sketches just make sure I’ve got all the details right before I begin carving. The pencil lines are fairly simple, and are as a guide. Sometimes […]
Letters entwined and leaves
This is a keystone for an arched entrance way, depicting entwined letters and tree design making a distinctive shield representing the name of the house. It is a lovely thing to be part of this personalisation of a building. This sort of carving harks back to heraldic achievements, showing supporters, a crest and […]
Owl Sense
This is the most gorgeous book – Owl Sense by Miriam Darlington – that I’m reading just now. Early on, in fact only a few pages in, I had to stop and look up some details about a standing Owl-Stone – I hadn’t heard of it before. The Owl-Stone is a group of naturally […]
Pebble Vases
Smooth and rounded as pebbles, gorgeous on their own or fill with clusters of dry stems or impressive single stalk – either way the beautiful variations of colour and markings of the serpentine stone make each a unique tiny natural work of art.
Working on Bird likenesses
Watching birds gives me such pleasure and getting to recognise their calls and markings is an ongoing joy, as is getting to know their nature, typical behaviour and characteristics after identifying them. When coming to work on a sculpture of a particular bird, knowing its nature and ‘spirit’ – or rather being able to […]
Lettering in stone – relief carving
Mostly the letter carving I’m asked to do is incised lettering, but recently I’ve relief carved the number ten and I’ve really enjoyed chasing the strong, clean lines as precisely as I can. Relief carved letters stand proud of the background stone surface. A frequent question is ‘which lettering style is the easiest to […]
Stone Carving Courses 2018
I’ve had a flurry of enquiries lately about my stone carving courses, so thought I’d better do an update. Both my Spring and Autumn Courses are now fully booked, so if you would like to spend a weekend learning stone carving, please contact me and I can pop you on a reserve list, or […]