Blog
Stone Carving Workshop – Hawes
On Sunday I went over to the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes to run a Stone Carving Workshop. It is a lovely venue, the site used to be the railway station for the small town of Hawes and the museum holds a fascinating collection telling the story of the Dales people and landscape. The […]
Red Kite souring overhead
This big bird seemed to be looking down at me yesterday, watching the workshop as it soured overhead – I could see its head moving, as if to get a better look. Its huge wings were still and just occasionally it changed the angle of its tail to steer. I thought to begin with […]
Demonstration Day in Helmsley
Lots of artists began their demonstrations around Helmsley on Saturday, and I had a beautiful spot on the little road leading to Helmsley Castle and the Walled Garden – Duncombe Sawmills very kindly gave permission for me to set up in their show area (thankyou!). I was next to Caroline Riley, who was sketching, […]
Off to the beach!
Do you rush and splash and launch right in, or tippy-toe like me? As a special treat yesterday afternoon, I went to Runswick Bay to swim in the sea. The tide was in and the sea smooth and calm, it was hot. I walked out and by the time the water was just above […]
Small Burrowing Mammal
… with short dark fur, popularly supposed (from the smallness of its eyes) to be blind. Did you guess what it was from the description? Mole – carved in Soapstone Of course there is so much more to a Mole than that, not least its huge and powerful front limbs – perfectly designed for […]
Wondrous Animals
Fables and folklore surrounding the Unicorn have long beguiled humankind, and certainly fascinated me. With their flowing white manes and long, curly horn and association with the moon they are the very symbol of purity and legendary for protecting their owner from poisoning. A beautiful and haunting beast, and an enchanting image for my […]
National Exhibition of Wildlife Art
Earlier in the week I drove down to the lovely little village of Waverton in Cheshire with stone sculpture in the passenger seat and footwell. It was ‘delivery of works’ day for the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art – the organisers then make selections from all the submissions for the exhibition. I’ve just learned […]
The joy of new tools
Tools do eventually wear out, their useful life comes to an end. I feel disgruntled and out of sorts when they do. They’ve become shaped to my hand, I’ve got used to how they work, I’ve sharpened them and they have served me well. Stone is a particularly punishing material on tools, especially […]
Swallow Fledge
This is my baby swallow – it is the only one that hatched from the clutch of eggs and as a singleton, has had all the devoted care of both parents and all the food. It has surprised me over the last couple of days in clambering out of the nest and shuffling along […]
Demonstration of Stone Carving
There’ll be chips flying, hammer blows and quite a bit of dust – and probably aching arms too! On Saturday 2nd August I will be demonstrating stone carving in Helmsley as part of the town’s celebrations for Yorkshire Day (1st August, 2014). I have been invited by Helmsley Galleries to join the special event […]