Cat's Eye Carving

The Worshipful Company of Founders.

12 March, 2024 – 11:51 am

Last year I was engaged as the official letter cutter for the Founder’s livery company.

On Monday, I caught an early train and headed up to London.

It was a gloomy day, the Thames was swathed in mist and the skyscrapers disappeared into the fog.

As we pulled into Cannon street, I got the tube round to the Barbican station just round the corner from the Founder’s hall. Their 5th building, built in the mid eighties but styled in the arts and crafts movement.

My work for them consists of painting the most recent master’s name onto a gilded board with their shield on, historically the shield would have been the family crest but in this day and age the shields are painted with something relevant to each Master.

In order to get the right coloured paint I did a rough test on some gold leaf.

I had spent some time in my studio drawing the names out so that I was prepared before I arrived.

There are a number of stone plaques on the walls in the entrance hall, carved with previous masters names by different stonemasons throughout the years, and now it’s my time.

This is the second year and it is going to get physically harder each year as the names get closer to the bottom of the current plaque.

I’ll need to work harder on my yoga over the coming year as the lower the names the lower I’ll need to work.

I decided to walk back to Cannon Street station, there is so much beautiful and breath-taking stone carvings on the magnificent Portland limestone buildings.

St Paul’s Cathedral is a building that I have seen from the outside, but as yet to go inside.

Watling Street was lovely and seemed out of place in the sprawling metropolis that is London today.

On the way out of London I got a fuzzy shot of Tower Bridge and then settled in to draw before the train became too busy.

I’m looking forward to my next trip to London, I’ll make time to go inside St Paul’s Cathedral and hopefully the weather will be nice enough to sit down and draw some of the wonderful buildings and sculptures.