Cat's Eye Carving

Crafters Shop

I am joining a craft shop in Wotton under edge. I will have a selection of my smaller carvings available for sale and I will be spending time there once or twice a month.

I will be manning the shop on Tues 15th & 22nd from 1-4.30 and June 19th 9.30 – 4.30 

There are other makers selling their work through this shop from knitting and sewing to woodcraft and glass. Please follow this link to the dedicated facebook page.

As I will be at the shop you are very welcome to call in and discuss commissions with me but this does mean that my workshop will be closed at these times.

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Visit to Canterbury Cathedral

I was very pleased to be invited to Canterbury Cathedral last month. I was one of 12 from the Worshipful Company of Masons as a thank you to the company for sponsoring a series of educational displays which will tour the local schools and help raise awareness and interest in this historic craft.  

We were escorted by Tony Long, head mason and Sam Royal, the Trust and Research manager. Once we were given the safety advice, out hi vis jacket and hard hat we were taken up to the top of the scaffolding via a lift, this was an exciting ride as a stonemason normally it’s ladders to the top.

The weather was extremely kind for our visit and the Sun was shining, the view from up here was breathtaking. I grew up not far from Canterbury and studied at Christ Church College-now part of the University, my student digs were visible from the top.

We were given a tour over the scaffolding and got to see the conservation work being undertaken by the current masons. I did plenty of sketching as I could get up close to the grotesques on the pinnacles. We had a trip inside and got up close to the vaulting in the nave thanks to a suspended floor. The Cathedral are currently cleaning the stonework up here thanks to some lottery funding but as a stonemason I see the structural work that needs to be done.

After some lunch we were given a tour around the ground floor of the Cathedral, through the cloisters, down into the crypt and all the way around, the Black Prince’s tomb has always been a firm favourite ever since the trips with my local Primary School many years ago. I used to spend many hours drawing in this magnificent building when I was studying at Christ Church College.

As I was spending time with my family I didn’t stay for evensong but I’m sure it was magical.

I carried out a 4 wk work experience placement with the Cantebury Cathedral masons after my degree so it was lovely to be back.

I thoroughly enjoyed my busman’s holiday and look forward to returning to Canterbury soon.

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Competition to have a go at stone carving.

Back in the Summer I ran a competition in collaboration with Gloucester’s Punchline magazine, Well just yesterday the lucky pair, Peter and Joan came to my workshop and claimed their prize.

They had an hour and a 4 inch square piece of stone each to try their hand at stone carving. It is Cotswold limestone from Veizeys Quarry in Tetbury and is also the stone I use for my school holiday activities and many of my stone carvings in my studio. I choose it not only for it’s carving qualities but also it’s lovely colour synonymous with the Cotswolds.

Joan carved a beautiful butterfly and Peter tried his hand at some letter cutting.

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Commission update

At the moment I am working on a variety of commissions from a complicated bowl of flowers which I am carving out of Portland which will be placed on a grave to some straight forward house signs. I also have a birdbath to finish and some quarry visits to make to get some stone for some new commissions.

I am still working on my Bacchus Green Man carving and have just put the next piece of stone on my bench for the exhibition that I am taking part in at Showborough House nr Tewkesbury.

If you are considering commissioning something please be aware that my waiting list is up to 10 wks, I can often fit smaller carvings in and around the larger commissions so don’t be afraid to ask. My carvings are created by hand with a variety of hammers, mallets and chisels, I do all the designing unless you would like me to carve something that you have designed. I use a wide variety of limestone, sandstone and slate from quarries in this country, if I don’t have a piece of stone suitable for your commission in my workshop then once it is ordered it can take between 4 and 6 wks to arrive. I require a 50% deposit & if it is a lengthy commission then I break the balance down into interim payments.

I am also getting on with organising my stone carving festival which will take place on the August bank Holiday weekend.

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Minor Glitch

Sorry if you have been trying to get to my website but the web host site were running an upgrade which knocked things out of kilter.

As you can see my awesome IT expert has got me up and running again. 

Everything is back to normal and I’ll post some more exciting news soon.

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