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Stone Carving in Hawes
On Sunday I was at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes running a stone carving workshop and was joined by very enthusiastic first time carvers. Throughout the day they worked non-stop, apart from a break for lunch, supplied by the Museum’s lovely Firebox Cafe (to whom big thanks – we were all hungry and […]
Stone, a bird, and a man in a top hat
This stone is an example of 19th century rock art (graffiti) at an ironstone industrial railway site in the North York Moors – it shows a man in a top hat, and a bird. Someone has spent time in carefully carving out this image, it is no idle sketch, there are charming details, feathers […]
Stone in some form
What a brilliant episode this week’s Gardeners’ World was (did you see it?) and quite a treat when Joe Swift visits Chelsea gold medal winner and stonemason Martin Cook to see how he uses contemporary rock sculpture within his Buckinghamshire garden. So much talk of stone – I watched eagerly – rockeries, incised stone, […]
Badger Sculpture
This is a recent sculpture in Kilkenny Limestone – a Badger sitting and sniffing the air, or perhaps just taking in his surroundings. It took almost as long to polish as it did to carve. Kilkenny Limestone is a hard stone and very dense. From the quarry it is quite a light grey colour, […]
Lousy Watchman
This morning I found a beetle on my workbench, quite a big beetle, about an inch in length and very magnificent. It isn’t alive – I suppose must have been caught by a bird, who either dropped it or decided not to eat it – there are slight crush marks on its black shell, […]
Shapes of Autumn
There’s a nip in the air this morning, and really for the first time this year I’ve noticed the browning and curling of leaves, ripening nuts and fruits, seedheads and a real turning to Autumn. My little garden area at the workshop has given so much this year with fruit, flowers and vegetables – […]
Stone Carving Courses – dates for 2017
Dates for my Stone Carving Courses held here in Lastingham, North Yorkshire for 2017 are now confirmed. Stone Carving Course – Spring 29th and 30th April, 2017 Stone Carving Course – Autumn 23rd and 24th September, 2017 Further details and how to book can be found at Stone Carving Course – dates and details. […]
The Art Market YORK 2016
What an enjoyable three days! I’m now back in the workshop after exhibiting at The Art Market YORK – big thanks to all who made this such a successful and happy show, the organisers, visitors and all the amazingly talented artists and makers. I feel quite inspired and envigorated by it all! Here […]
Lapwing Sculpture
I didn’t expect that this piece of Cobalt stone would become a Lapwing – I thought the colouring and patterning might suit something more abstract. When thinking about sculpting a Lapwing I had imagined it in sandstone – then all of a sudden I saw this chunk of serpentine, not as a lump of […]
Behind the Scenes
Of course for me it is an every day scene – but The Art Market have made a series of short films as an introduction to artists exhibiting at their event The Art Market YORK. They visited me, along with One & Other Creative, who made the film – Meet the Maker – Jennifer […]