Cat's Eye Carving

Designing and carving a ceiling boss.

I like to have a break from carving every so often, it helps with focus when I have a particularly demanding project or when my shoulders need a rest, this doesn’t mean I sit around, I like to draw up designs ready for new projects. My ideas come from sketches that I have made of plants and foliage, figures, faces and buildings that I see when I am out and about.

I always have a small sketchbook with me and I always have more than one on the go at any time. Which one I have with me depends on what size I can carry and whether it is a specific drawing day such as visiting a gallery, museum or historic building. 

Obviously a Ceiling Boss is an existing architectural feature seen at the apex of a vaulted ceiling whether in the Angels or cloisters of a magnificent Cathedral or in the porch of a stately home and  they are often ornately carved. Norwich Cathedral have some beautiful examples in their cloisters. I took these wen I visited Norwich back in January.

Here is one of my full scale drawings for a ceiling boss that I drew last Summer. I ordered 2 pieces of French limestone using the dimensions of the drawings and have made the template, 10 x 10 x 5 inches. I wasn’t as happy with the other design which featured a Green Man but I will draw it again at a later date.

The next stage is to mark up the stone using the templates and start removing the stone in a logical manner to make the process as efficient and straightforward as possible. This also helps me arrive at the most interesting part quickly.

The first thing I will do on this carving is saw away the excess. I’ll write more as I get the project underway. For now though I have some house signs to get on with.