Stone Carving and Letter Cutting
I have been a busy bee making some lovely lasting seasonal decorations to hang in your windows!
I have cut some Chinese slate into pumpkin shapes, sanded them and then painted them up with different pumpkin colours and spooky faces!!
They are between 40 and 50mm wide and all completely different. They all have silver plated loops and waxed cotton to hang on and are £8.50 each.
I was invited to demonstrate and run my have a go sessions at The St Swithin’s Church Community open day. The event was run by the Churches Conservation Trust and enabled the people of Worcester to have a look inside ask questions and see what the trust are trying to do. There were other activities for young and old to do and obviously my section was very popular with people of all ages.
I really enjoyed talking to people explaining about stonemasonry and conservation and obviously demonstrating my skill as a stonemason.
With money raised the trust are hoping to get some Urns carved which replace the ones that stood on the parapet of the church. Using this I decided to make some drawings and design an urn that reflected the Palladian style that the Church is constructed in. Obviously I wouldn’t be able to finish the carving but I made a start before the day so that I had something to show the general public and I was able to demonstrate the masonry techniques as well as have some rudimentary drawings to show people.
I hope that giving talks and demonstrations show the general public are able to appreciate the work and dedication that goes into preserving and restoring ancient buildings.
Watch this space for more dates.
Using Sterling Silver wire and soldering where necessary to make bails or wrap various pebbles and rocks that I have tumbled and polished.
Here is the latest selection of pendants and earrings that I have made. Prices start at £18 for a pair of completely unique earrings in Welsh Slate or Red Jasper.
I have made a selection of pendants with Sterling Silver bails and cut grooves in some of the rocks then put wire in the groove finally finishing with the bail all one piece of Silver and then soldering to hold it in place.
The Red Jasper takes 6-8wks to tumble until polished and up to 20mins to drill. The Granite tumbles for 2wks and then I finish the polishing by hand. The Welsh Slate tumbles for a week.
I also find interesting and beautiful pebbles on the beach which I tumble to get a shinier finish.
I have been getting a lot of enquiries about carving animal portraits.
I have done quite a few and there are two types I can carve;
In the round, this involves working from photos and the animal, where possible but it isn’t critical. I model the animal in clay and create the best likeness, this can take up to a week depending on how much detail and body is required, as soon as you the customer are happy with this I cast the clay model in plaster.
The next process is the most time consuming as I then start to measure removing large amounts of stone as I gradually work closer to the finished portrait. If you require just the head then it takes approximately 10 days to complete the carving. The price starts at £850 for the head, I can carve portraits of people as well but as this is a much more in depth and complicated process the cost is £2500
The second type is a relief, carved in Welsh slate, I work solely from a single photo preferably a two thirds profile. The size is approximately A4 with a border, I then cut down into the slate at about 1/4 inch the deepest part and create a shallow relief. This can take up to a week to carve and prices start from £250 depending on the size and amount of detail.
If you would like to see more photos please look in the categories section on the right hand side of the home page and there is a section titled commissions and portraits, this will take you to all the posts I have written about carving portraits in stone.
On Saturday the 28th September I will be giving a demonstration, answering questions and running have a go sessions at St Swithun’s Church in Worcester.
Originally the Church had a series of Urns along the parapet and the challenge is to try and re-create on a much smaller scale one of these Urns, I will be producing drawings and templates and using a local limestone. I won’t be able to complete the carving and I will be making a start on the project before the event.
Obviously I will be putting photos on here for you to see but try and come along and have a look.
For more information please follow this link to their page.
http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/Whatson/Fulleventslist/2013-09-28/Community-Fun-Day-Worcester/