Blog
A Plantability of Pots
I’ve been talking a lot about pots lately I know, but at this time of year they’re regularly on my making list. Just knowing that they’ll be topped up with soil, carefully planted and contain a captivating growing display, means they are a joy to make. These ones are solid and rustic, the stone […]
Date Stone
Date stones appear on all types of buildings, on farms, humble dwellings, and major country houses. They can also be found on industrial, civic and ecclesiastical buildings, varying from a simple inscription carved into the lintel above a door, to elaborate plaques built into the wall or gable. Often, on domestic and agricultural buildings […]
Things I like about the Art Gallery at Ryedale Folk Museum
About a month from now the Art Gallery at Ryedale Folk Museum will be opening our exhibition RyeScape. The pieces I’ll be showing have already been selected by the gallery, so I’m not in a making frenzy in the build-up, but I still feel excited about it. Partly that comes from looking forward to […]
My first goose egg
My first goose egg of 2017 in a little basket made of grasses and stems. It was imminent – typically geese start to lay at this time of year – and I had noticed mine resting a lot, and making the tell-tale scraped nest shapes. Each year the first egg brings such wholesome […]
Small round stone succulent planter
I’m working on perfecting the curves and bowl shape of these little stone pots for succulents, and getting the rim just right. It is a slow and delicate task, but when each has its own little plant, the trials of working the stone are forgotten. Part of the appeal of succulents is their variety […]
Letter carved stone sundial
Usually I use brass dials for the sundials I make, insetting them into the stone top, but recently I’ve been working on a rather special Wall Dial which has had all the detail carved into the stone. It was designed by Stephen Holehan and calculated for the exact location for the client, taking into […]
Stem Dwellings
Or home for twigs, buds, blooms, posies, stalks – they also look rather well holding a feather or two. The trees are bursting with catkins and buds at the moment and tiny, delicate petals are emerging through the soil – I love to bring indoors some of these first signs of spring. I’ve carved […]
Pure Heart
A straightforward stone, shaped by wind and weather, tides and time. Nature smoothed and touched by pink, by me. Handled. Held.
Elementum
It was an unexpected find – I’d followed a link from a beautiful Barn Owl illustration by Rebecca Clark and found myself introduced to Elementum. The name intrigued, Elementum – A journal of nature & story. At the time I was much too interested in Rebecca’s beautiful work, but later went back to look […]
As light as a feather
Sometimes when I’m unsure about how a carving will look, or indeed whether I can achieve the result I would like, I have little practice runs. In this case I’ve had a trial run carving a feather – I wanted it to look light, and floating – not a quill sort of feather, but […]