Garden
Festival of Winter
Though it doesn’t seem very winter-like, weatherwise anyway, I’m feeling now quite in the mood to celebrate the Winter Festival season. After the shortest day, there’s a feeling that we’re pulling away from the darker months, but of course it takes some time before we can notice a difference. For me, it is certainly […]
Marble Vases in Festive mood
There’s a very soft scent of pine resin lingering on my hands from selecting a few festive fronds from the garden – heavenly! For me these natural little touches of seasonal green and berries bring huge cheer and a warm Christmassy feel. Shown here in timelessly elegant and luxurious marble vases. View The British […]
In the Workshop today – Birds wait
Birds wait in the winter landscape for me to finish their birdbath, and fill it with water. Here’s one of them on a fence post at the workshop, watching the sun rise as I chisel away inside. They waited patiently for their water until I delivered the birdbath to its new home and we […]
My Supporters and Collaborators
Sometimes weeks and months can go by without me really noticing. I’m concentrating, making, carving, deliberately quiet, thoughtful. Today on my walk to the workshop the sun was warm, despite a deeply frosty night and it gave me the sense of feeling very open and awake. I collected some little stems from the hedgerow […]
They’re called Shining Stones
British marble is rare – the only true marbles are quarried in north-west Scotland. The scarcity of indigenous marble meant that European marbles were imported for quality decorative work. This was an expensive exercise so alternative sources of special stones were sought, and local hard sedimentary limestones were exploited. These native British ‘marbles’ were […]
The Way Birds Drink
Today I’ve been finishing a couple of carved birds to sit on the edge of a birdbath. I’m not sure why, and it has only just occurred to me, but I’ve made them as if they are drinking, rather than bathing (I must do a pair as if in mid flapping and sploshing next […]
An Owl called Jack
Recently I delivered a commissioned owl sculpture to its new home, the most beautifully tended, flower filled garden. From the moment I arrived butterflies and bees flitted between the beds planted in creatively soft colour swathes and a wondrous mix of textures. Stone paths led me round in curves, to view points, stone paved […]
Pretty Posies
Picking fresh flowers from the garden and bringing them into the house for display is a divinely simple pleasure. Arranging little posies, single buds, or a tangle of tumbling stems brings delight, and doesn’t it give such happy satisfaction? A touch of nature right by your side, on table, shelf, bedside .. oh, just […]
Mice are Nice
I agree with Rose Fyleman in her poem I think mice are rather nice; Their tails are long, their faces small; They haven’t any chins at all. Their ears are pink, their teeth are white, They run about the house at night, They nibble things they shouldn’t touch, and, no one seems to like […]
In the Workshop today – ferns
After carving Gold Leaf I’ve had many requests to carve similar pieces, with a variety of leaves, sprigs, flora and fauna. This one delicately describes the unfurling of fern fronds. Here I’m drawing onto the stone in preparation for carving, trying to get the very specific way ferns hold themselves to fit onto the […]