Cat's Eye Carving

Drawing and designing.

Posted in Carrie's News, Portraits, Sculpture | 3 Comments »

Some of my carvings available to buy.

During this lockdown obviously my shop is closed but here are a few things that I have available to buy from my shop.

My clocks are designed and hand carved out of a variety of stones. Cumbrian slate has a slightly blue/green hue whereas the Welsh slate is blue/black or heather coloured, My Cumbrian sandstone comes from St Bees and the Portland limestone from Dorset is either base bed which has less fossilised shell or Roach bed which has alot of fossils or voids where fossils didn’t form.

My hand carved calligraphy is designed by me and drawn directly onto the stone so that it works with the shape of the stone. I choose the paint or gold leaf finish depending on what I think will look right.

Leaves, flowers and the Green Man provide me with an endless source of inspiration. I have a wide selection of bookends but is one of my simplest pair, he natural beauty of the calcite and fossils being the only decoration that they need.

This selection of sculptures were inspired by the fluidity of nature and the simplicity of Ice-Age sculpture. Something that I have been exploring for a few years now.

I am happy to discuss commissions for most types of stone carving, sculpture and letter cutting

Posted in Carrie's News, Letter cutting, Sculpture, The Green Man and Grotesques | 1 Comment »

Working from home.

During the last Summer I was able to work in my garden thanks to the lovely warm and dry weather that we had.

My boyfriend and I spent a day clearing a very rundown shed in the garden so if the weather turned so I still had a place to work. I didn’t finish kitting it out though as I didn’t need it…until now.
I spent a day last week collecting what I would need for my next 3 commissions and organising the space so I could work, as you can see I now have a space that allows me to work from home. 

 

Our living room flooded before Christmas so I used the carpet and underlay that was ruined to put down on the bricks and make a draft excluder around the bottom of the shed…there are quite alot of gaps.

The lighting is great in there now thanks to a friend giving me some halogen site lights with bonus extra warmth and I have hung an old tent outer shell up at the door as there are alot of gaps in the door too.

I partially dismantled the easel that Ed and I constructed in the Summer and it is now fixed to the brick wall that the shed is built against.

  

Posted in Carrie's News, Commissions, Letter cutting | No Comments »

Update on the new war memorial.

I have managed to spend a couple of days working on the 1st world war soldier but as you can imagine it was quite busy at Taurus Crafts. I am looking forward to getting back on with the carving in January.

I have put some short videos on my YouTube channel it shows some of the methods and chisels that I have been using. At this stage there isn’t any detailed work going on as I am roughing out the outlines to make sure that I have enough stone to create the right levels and detail.

I sculpted a portrait of George Hyett in clay from a photo taken over 100 years ago and I am using a photo of a 1st world war soldier to make sure I have all the details right.

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Shopping from your comfy chair.

Now we have been placed into tier 4 and I am classed as a non-essential shop I am closed until further notice. I have put photos of what I have on my shelves. I have described and priced them all and whether they have been sold. If you would like to find out more you can contact me here .

I will number the photos so you can ask by the photo number and obviously the carving, creation or piece of jewellery that you are interested in. Most of my carvings and creations can be posted but obviously the heavier or more delicate items can’t.
If you would like to buy any of these things then I can take payment over the phone or by bacs and I can keep the heavier items until we are allowed to venture out again.

I am sorry for some of the over laps but I have taken some of the photos today, New Years Eve to make sure that I have up to date information. Please note that the carvings I create are unique and although I can carve something similar it is impossible to get the same piece of stone. The carving could be cast or I can carve a measured copy but then they wouldn’t be unique and that is something that I pride myself on.

My carvings are all done by hand, they are Forest of Dean sandstone, greens greys and some reds. Cumbrian sandstone, red. Welsh slate blue/black. Cornish slate, silvery green. Portland limestone, off white. French limestone creamy white. Tetbury limestone yellowy white. 

Some of my creations are casts of my original plaster carvings or clay models these are made using a weatherproof non-toxic material called Jesmonite.

All my sculptures are designed by me and they are either direct carvings or I have made a drawing or maquette to work from.
The paint I use is a weatherproof paint and the only things that I create that can’t go outside are my clocks.

My jewellery is designed by me and I make it from scratch using Welsh slate, quartz that I collected from Findhorn beach when I installed a sculpture in Scotland or Fresh water pearls and sterling silver. Each piece is unique and these can be made to order.

I also have some of the amazing Missfire‘s work, Clare works with metal to create beautiful items for your home and garden, she decorates them using her unique paint technique.

Everything I make can be redesigned to suit a specific budget or position. I can work to commission from your ideas or you can leave the design up to me.

Any questions don’t be afraid to ask.

Have a safe and Happy New Year.

Posted in Carrie's News, Gifts and pendants, Jewellery, Letter cutting, Sculpture, The Green Man and Grotesques | No Comments »