Stone Carving and Letter Cutting
My sphere sculpture featuring two faces connected by curly hair is finished.
This sculpture is available to buy from my studio for £1875.
Here are the next set of photos from my new sculpture, as you can see I have joined both faces with the curly hair that I am carving.
I am back carving in my shed now as the photos at the top of this post show but I love carving outside in the fresh air, the lighting helps me see how the shadows fall and in turn shows what I need to do to enhance a feature.
I am so excited to be starting my new sculptures. I have a commission to carve in HamHill stone next month so my first carving was in a sample sent to me by Hadspen Quarry I had tried some simple letter carving in it first but it was such a lovely colour and natural shape that I knew I could carve a face in it. This would give me an insight into it’s carving qualities for my commission.
Hand carved Ham Hill stone
This selection of photos shows the development over two days from the sphere to the two faces. I have only just started chiselling the outlines of the hair and the faces are not finished yet. I am looking forward to progressing with this carving and exhibiting in the FarOpen exhibition this Summer.
I was able to work outside for a few days even though it was cold it was lovely to work in the sunshine. I am back in my shed now but it’s cosy in there.
I have uploaded a few videos onto my YouTube channel if you would like to see how I am carving my sculpture. There are some other videos showing me working on different carvings including my work on the War memorial before Christmas. I am looking forward to getting back on with that when I return to my studio.
I have drawn this design to carve into the Tetbury limestone sphere that I carved a few years ago.
For several years this sphere delighted my visitors, particularly children as something they could touch and roll around on the floor of my studio. I brought it home in the Summer to carve something onto it.
I thought it would be fun to carve a face on both sides, I am looking forward to seeing what develops as I carve into the stone, my drawings are generally a stepping off point not a precise representation of the finished carving.
I have been looking through some of my early carvings and these ones have stood out as some of my favourites.
These two carvings always gravitated together and I was happy when they sold as a pair. They are carved out of Syreford limestone and demonstrate one of the few examples of a male face.
‘Sleep tight’ was carved out of a large piece of Tetbury limestone, roughly 28 x 18 x 18 inches. It had hard fossily veins through it which made it a challenging piece to carve. She was sold in 2006 and resides at a private residences in the Cotswolds.
‘I am the wind’ was carved out of Tetbury limestone from 2006. she was roughly 5 x 5 x 10 inches. She was sold not long after I carved her and found a home on the Island of Paxos off the Greek coast.
I am looking forward to revisiting some of my early ideas now that my skill has reached a level that I can realise my more complicated ideas.