Cat's Eye Carving

Breckenridge Snow Carving Championship (part II)

On Monday morning we had a few more hours in Denver to have breakfast and look around the immediate area. Gorgeous sunshine and blue skies.

At 11am we were picked up in a huge luxury 4×4 provided by one of the many sponsors. We climbed up into the mountains through gold and silver mining communities, prospects still available to buy and people still sinking everything into the uncertainty of gold mining. The landscape was something out of wild west movies, there was snow and huge pine trees, we saw a herd of buffalo on a reserve. Breathing was becoming more difficult, the snow was getting deeper and the mountains were getting more impressive. There were frozen lakes where the locals fished through holes. It was obvious that this was going to be a difficult week.

When we arrived we stopped to get our keys and welcome pack so we could get settled into the condo, it was cold and windy but it was so warm in the vehicles and buildings. Our first stop was the local supermarket, we had a lovely couple called Fran and Roy who were our hosts and helped us when we needed supplies. We decided to spend our breakfast budget so we could cook breakfast in the condo and then head down to the carving area-there wasn’t always time for breakfast and altitude sickness diminished my appetite. I think I shocked the locals when I had to take my snow trousers off in the supermarket. It was cold outside but I had jeans on under my thermal trousers and it was just too warm. Obviously the locals know better than to wear outdoor clothes over normal attire!!

Our condo was about a 10 minute walk away from the snow blocks but due to the rarefied air it took anything up to 30mins as I had to stop so often and rest.

We had an amazing view of the mountains, you could see the snow billowing off the peaks but it was warming up and the snow was melting.

On Tuesday we had a welcome breakfast, to meet the other teams and be formally welcomed by the organisers. I did not feel well and couldn’t breathe, thankfully there was oxygen tanks that we could hook up to if and when we needed. At 11am there was a canon start and the event began.

The block of snow was 10ft square by 12ft high. We were lucky enough to be next to the Estonian team and they kindly lent us their chain saw-not what it sounds like. It’s a chain with nuts and bolts fixed through the links-ideal for sawing snow. The first job I was given was to section off the block into thirds so our captain and the designer could start mapping out the dragons. Ed was given the job of hacking off the top of the block and helping Marie to saw some of the snow. I’m afraid I had to take some Oxygen.

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Breckenridge Snow Carving Championship.

What an amazing experience. I have only flown to Norway and Jersey before so a flight halfway around the world was a daunting prospect.

Our flight changed in Iceland which from the air and coming into land is truly beautiful, iceflows and enormous river deltas no Northern lights sadly either out or back.

We were able to follow our journey and see what we were flying over and when the clouds cleared I was able to see the ice flows around the Canadian coastline, I’m pretty sure I could see walrus’s!

As we were travelling back in time 7hrs we followed the sunset and landed in Denver in the dark. There were mounds of snow but it wasn’t cold. The air was very dry and I found myself thirsty all the time and being a mile high, the air was thinner.

Our team captain had hired a car and once we had shoehorned our luggage and the four of us in we set off for downtown Denver. Thankfully my googlemaps helped us find our way to our hotel, The Curtis an interesting pop art themed hotel, very nice but they were redecorating the floor we were on so I’m sure it will be even nicer when they finish.

We decided to find somewhere to eat as we needed to stay up to break the jetlag. There was a great diner just across the road and they had everything on the menu it was endless. The food was great but I wouldn’t be able to have a good cup of tea until we got home!

We’d all been awake for about 24hrs by this time and I couldn’t stay up any longer unfortunately I woke up at 4.30 am so sleep was going to be an issue and so thirsty.

On Sunday Ollie took us to a stop I had been dying to go to The Boot Barn! I bought cowboy boots and a new straw hat. The clothing there was amazing and the boots went on for miles. After this we went on to Red Rock and amphitheatre built during the Hoover administration to help people during the depression. the men were paid  money which was sent home to their families and they were given food and a place to sleep. Music festivals are still hosted here and there have been some incredible concerts here.
The sky was so blue, the colours were intense but the air was even thinner up here and climbing a normal set of steps made me feel like I had never climbed stairs or exerted myself in any way. Catching my breath was a challenge and this did not bode well for the onward journey another 5000ft up into the rockies.

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Snow Carving Championship

Happy New Year everyone.

I have some very exciting news, I have been invited to join team GB in their attempt to bring home first prize in The Breckenridge International Snow carving Championship in Colorado.

Ollie Annaly the team captain asked me if I would be interested back in May after my fourth Stone carving festival and now alongside Marie Louise Bolland-this year’s designer and Ed Francis we are all travelling in just 3wks to Colorado.

The design is inspired by a Welsh folk song about a white dragon and a red dragon fighting. We will have just 4 days to carve a 3m cubed block of compacted snow working in sub zero conditions at 10,000 ft. We will be carving the snow by hand using gardening tools such as edge cutters and hoes, also small hand saws, rasps and bespoke constructed hand tools.

We will have to wear numerous thermal layers including waterproof trousers, mittens, shoes etc. in order to maintain our warmth, it will be a real endurance challenge.

As well as working alongside 15 other teams from the international community we will be surrounded by the beauty of the Rocky Mountains as we are hosted by Breckenridge in Colorado. This is my first trip to the USA and I know that I will be overwhelmed by the shear expanse of this country.

We will only be allowed to use the snow we are given which will weigh approximately 20tonnes and there will be techniques we can use to remove the snow as well as stick it back to create the forms and features of the sculpture.

I hope to come back with a mind full bursting with new inspiration to apply to my sculpture and stone carving.

This is an entirely new experience for both myself and Ed Francis but I know that we will be able to adapt to the material and rise to this extraordinary challenge.

For more information please visit www.gobreck.com you can follow all the excitement and progress on twitter @gobreck #BreckBecause and obviously @CarrieHorwood #Team GB

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10th Anniversary

The 22nd of November 2005 was the day Cat’s Eye Carving was officially started.

I had a small workshop space that I had been renting at Harts Barn in Longhope since March of that year but I finally decided to take the plunge just a few months later.

I had been working for a commercial company nr Stroud for the previous 18mths but felt that I wasn’t able to utilise my creativity enough. I had developed Osteo-Arthritis in my fingers and thumb of my left hand following an injury I sustained as an apprentice so by running my own business I could manage that and stretch my artistic side-after all sculpture was what I had been studying at school and university.

Obviously I had to be realistic and so got myself a job at my local-the old Brunswick pub in Gloucester. I remained working here two days a week and spent 4 days a week at my workshop.

In March 2007 I was asked to repair and restore the statue of St Richard of Droitwich in Vines Park. This was the first time I could really use everything that I had learnt over the previous 8yrs.
In 2007 I again moved into a slightly larger workshop and was able to give up my job in the pub and concentrate fully on my business, I carved a simple font for Withywood Church in Bristol, Heraldry for Penhow Castle in South Wales among many other house names and numbers.

 I decided to organise and run my own stonemason festival, the first one was in May 2008

The festival attracted a variety of stonemasons four came over from Canada which was really exciting, we managed to raise about £4000 for the chosen charities. I repeated my festival in 2009 and we still managed to raise a reasonable sum even though the recession was beginning to bite. I also attended a stonemasons festival in Norway, my carving of Freya raised a whopping £1200 for the Cathedrals fund.

Following my desire for more space I moved my entire operation to Brockworth Nr Gloucester on the promise of a great craft centre, gallery, gift shop and tearoom but this turned out to be both a good and terrible move, I met a lovely woman quite by chance and she commissioned me to carve a memorial which I would need to install on the North coast of Scotland in a quiet seaside town
I took part in my second Highnam Court Spring Fair in April 2010 and my carving won first prize,

I also took part in the York Minster stonemasons festival that year and carved a nautilus shell.

But after a difficult year and no real development on the site I decided to move again, this time to Taurus Crafts Nr Lydney. I arrived just in time for the February half term (2011) and spent the following three months running my business from a small marquee! My first display carving was Cecil the boar click to see the carving. I was also honoured to carve a memorial to the armed forces which is located outside Pershore Abbey.

I took part in the Highnam Court Spring fair, on my own this year and my carving was raffled for the charities and then a stonemasons festival that I had consulted on in Ludlow in aid of St Lawrence’s Church (2011)

In May 2011 I moved into a larger workshop, it had walls and a door-I was in heaven!!

Just 3mths later a smaller workshop became available which was more suitable and I was able to continue with working on an interesting variety of commissions including 3 grotesques to be built into a local house 2 large acorns as a memorial in a large and beautiful garden. This is when I finally got to carve the cherubs for the Scotland memorial.

I took part in the Ludlow festival again and this time my carving was awarded both prizes and I was able to use the prize vouchers to invest in a piece of equipment for my workshop which takes some of the strain out of carving the Forest of Dean Sandstone.

I had been putting together a festival of my own quietly in the background and in May 2013 I ran the Gloucester Stonecarving festival at The Llanthony Secunda Priory in Gloucester. the carving took place over 2 and a half days and raised money for The Gloucester Geology Trust and The Priory itself, the auction raised just over £2500 for the two charities.

While I am running the festivals I am also running my business and in May 2014 I was given the opportunity to move into what used to be the back of the old pottery-I jumped at the chance as this enabled me to expand my business, my shop area is larger and so my stone carvings for sale have increased. I am able to have a permanent set up for have a go at stone carving which takes place in the school holidays. I am currently working on a large sculpture for a garden and I have a 3ft bear to carve for Sept 2016.

I continue to carve house names and numbers which have been the staple of my business but I also get commissioned to carve all manner of things, I undertakes a few animal commissions a year which are incredibly taxing as the have to be like for like carvings. I love to design and carve sculptures and gifts for sale in my shop and just a few years ago I taught myself to silver solder and now make pendants and earrings. I am proud to say that through it all I have only sold what I have made and this will continue.

I can design, sculptures and letters memorials and creatures. I love to be able to source my stone from local quarries but I am hoping to be able to carve some Italian marble in the not too distant future. Often you will find that there is an Art Nouveau feel about my sculptures, this is the elegant and flowing forms that I love to create and to be able to make stone look like it is light and delicate is a feat in itself.

My ideas are forever evolving and I have no one source of inspiration-historical artists and sculptors are a source of knowledge for me I can look at the carving or modelled and cast bronze and figure out how it has been done.

In May 2015 just after my most recent stonemason festival I was nominated to become a Yeoman mason, by the then Upper warden Bill Gloyn and I went up to London in October to receive my certificate.

I have just been invited to take part in The Breckenridge International Snow Carving Championship in Colorado early next year http://www.gobreck.com/events/budweiser-international-snow-sculpture-championships

So the next 10yrs in business looks set to be amazing and if you would like to join me to celebrate I will have wine and cake at my workshop at Taurus Crafts  on Sunday 22nd November.

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed, bought and supported me over the last 10yrs, most importantly my boyfriend Ed Francis.

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Carving a passion flower

This is my latest carving,  inspired by my beautiful Passion Flower outside my workshop.

I am carving it out of Portland limestone, the small chisel is a knarly old file that has been turned into a fine carving chisel perfect for this type of carving.

The stone is less than 12inches long with a deliberate broken end to make it look like a relic of times gone by.

I’ll post a photo when it’s finished

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