Second commission for Gloucestershire Constabulary
11 October, 2018 – 11:14 amAfter my success with the police shields I created, I was asked to design a retirement gift for a senior officer.
The brief was to incorporate stone from 5 districts; Avon and Somerset, Gloucestershire, Devon and Cornwall, Dorset and Wiltshire.
The design I came up with was a layered bowl. Unfortunately I hit a brick wall in terms of getting a piece of stone from each area and staying within budget. One quarry had a minimum charge of over a £100 + delivery and VAT.
I decided to use what I had in my workshop and the bowl from then on could only be 5 x 8 inches at it widest.
I was struggling with the Wiltshire stone and decided to make up a layer using the Jesmonite, which once formed and sanded I would cut holes and put flint in to represent a chalk layer.
In order to keep the cost down I cut the stone on my tile cutter, hollowed it out as best as I could using my drill and then glued each layer together.
I was able to sand the outside and some of the inside with my angle grinder and my dremel, finally finishing off with my diamond sanding pads. I had previously tumbled the knapped flint pieces so that there weren’t any sharp edges. I cut the holes out with my dremel and glued them in.
I thoroughly enjoyed creating this unique bowl and hope that the recipient it is really chuffed.