Cat's Eye Carving

Christmas presents

Sorry, I can hear you all groaning as I mention the word Christmas but as some of you are well aware I carve everything I sell (with the exception of my popular hessian bags and my stone paper notebooks).

I am currently working to an 8wk waiting list for commissions so with this in mind I will need orders for Christmas presents in by the end of October to ensure completion and delivery in time. I will be taking Christmas and regular orders all the time but after October I can’t guarantee their readiness.

I am working on a lovely new selection of seasonal carvings as well as beautiful carvings that would compliment your home and garden. I have 4 new sets of Forest of Dean sandstone bookends ready to carve and some more Tetbury limestone ones that I will be working on in the next couple of weeks. I have designed two lovely flower friezes and some more sculptural pieces & a sandstone bowl that will be carved in a pretty piece of mauve Forest of Dean sandstone.

I am also working on 2 larger sculptures in Caen and Portland limestone, a small figure in a piece of marble & a lovely face in a piece of St Bee’s sandstone from Cumbia-this stone is very dense and is a beautiful red ochre colour.

Obviously I am still working on the carving of a brown bear eating a fish which is a commission I hope to have him finished in the next couple of weeks. This is alongside a variety of letter cutting both for my shop and for particular orders.

There are three markets at Taurus this year on the 3 weekends in December, fresh Christmas trees, wonderful produce from The Cowshill Farmshop and plenty of fabulous things to buy from all of us at Taurus Crafts plus the extra stalls that will be open.

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Designs for letter Cutting.

I am busy designing some lettering to carve for my shop.

The stone is sandstone from Birch Hill in the Forest of Dean. I am designing the letters as I go. These are not copied from a book but inspired by the many forms of calligraphy and my own imagination.

The letters will be painted in either gold or silver unless someone requests a different colour.

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Commission to carve a Brown Bear

Here are some more photos of my carving of a Brown Bear in Tetbury limestone.

As you can see I have spent some more time carving around the face and the difference is obvious. I am gradually working my way around the stone carving and the shapes of the Bear.

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Commission to carve a Brown Bear

This commission is incredibly interesting. The Brown Bear is such a beautiful creature.

The stone is from Veizeys Quarry nr Tetbury in South Gloucestershire, there are a lot of fossils and hard calcite veins running through this piece if stone which lends itself to the rugged nature of the wild animal.

I have chosen to carve the Bear eating a salmon so he has one paw up to his muzzle and the other holding the end of the fish.

They have a dog like quality in their faces and I still have a lot of work to do the first stage is to rough out the basic shape then gradually become more refined.

The carving is still very simplistic as this only represents a weeks work but you will be able to see the progress as I publish more photos.

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What’s new in my workshop

Here are some images for the latest selection of work. Some of these are commissions and some are available in my shop.

I have started to create sculptures that I can cast, these are still unique to me and as each one is hand finished they are ever so slightly different but as they are casts they will cost less. As an example, the Green man would cost about £400 if I were to carve him in stone but these casts only cost £95 each. Jesmonite the raw material, is not a cheap to buy but is non toxic, weatherproof and light. I can mix pigments with it or as I have done with these pieces, paint it.

I have also finished some more clocks, these are all hand carved and finished, the hands can be ordered to suit your taste and I can make them with any design you would like. I am currently working on a very small range, the smallest being 2.5 x 4 inches in Welsh sandstone with small hands to complement it.

A few of my commissions appear in this collection of images, I continue to work through my letter cutting and have just cleared space to start the bear carving. Unfortunately due to some red tape I am running a bit behind schedule, so I am currently taking commissions which will be carved in Sept/Oct.

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