Cat's Eye Carving

New Year, time for a change?

6 January, 2013 – 9:00 am

Happy New Year everyone.
We all think about things that we want to do to make our homes more appealing both inside and out. I will be carving a new number for my flat for example. It’s the little additions that make a big difference!
This is a house name that I carved before Christmas-a present to their house. Castle View House. It is carved in Welsh slate from the Horseshoe Pass in Llangollen. Elegant Swash capitals and lower case italics. Size of slate 10×8 inches. Cost unpainted £145.

They have opted to take it away and put it up to see what it looks like before the letters were painted. If they decide that they want them painted they simply bring it back and for an extra £30 I paint the letters in whatever colour they choose.
They may decide that they like it as it is, it is important to give you the customer this choice as although I can remove the paint it is never the same as there is staining left, only removed by re-cutting the letter.

I have also included photos of another house name commission which was commissioned as a Christmas present. Esnadene. It is carved in Forest of Dean Sandstone and is painted with a gloss blue paint, which offers a beautiful contrast to the stone and makes it easily legible. The ‘E’ is 4 inches high and the lower case are 2 inches. you may notice that the ‘E’ is not in line with the rest of the word, this was a specific design for the customer. You remain in control of your commission-I am the facilitator of your ideas! As you can see it has been dug in to their bank and looks marvellous. The cost for this was £125.

The number 4 is carved in the same slate as Castle View House and is 5 inches square, it is unpainted. The cost for this is £25, if it were to be painted it would be £27.50.

For mounting on the wall I drill the holes and provide the fixings, alternatively they can be built into the wall. For a small fee I can carry out the installment for you (local area only).

I hope this gives you some ideas for what you can do to spruce up the outside of your house.

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Syreford limestone carving

13 December, 2012 – 5:00 pm

Here are the latest photos of my carving.

As you can see I have started to develop the hair more, trying to give the illusion of a body underneath.

It’s always a bit scary when I start to carve deeper into the legs and arms but the detail comes from these undercuts. There won’t be the really fine detail in the face as the stone which is from the North Cotswolds is very coarse and doesn’t lend itself to this type of carving.

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New look shop area

11 December, 2012 – 8:47 pm

It always concerns me when I hear visitors say “it’s just a workshop we won’t go in” So I took this as a challenge and I have worked very hard to make my shop area clean, bright and smart.

I built myself a new shelf unit to make the most of a doorway that is out of use and made more of the display area that I have.

Here are some close up photos of the pieces that I have for sale. I hope you agree that they are much better displayed.

Further away you can see how everything fits into the space now and I am really happy with my new look.

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New Candlesticks.

4 November, 2012 – 10:30 am

Here are some images of my latest selection of candlesticks. I have hand-carved and painted the designs.

I have designed them to be decorative all year round, they have a felt base so as not to scratch the furniture.

The candle cups are copper adding a beautiful contrast to the stone.

The final 3 pictures are of my newest tealight holder;
I have carved a ball from a 5inch square piece of Tetbury limestone, then carved the petals into the ball,.
By off-setting the hole for the tealight I can rotate the ball and balance it in another piece of Tetbury which I have smoothed and carved a small hollow into the surface.

I have coloured the petals slightly by burning the stone.

I am working on some more designs and will keep you posted.
These are completely unique designs hand-carved and painted by myself.

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Portrait of a Horse in Welsh Slate.

30 October, 2012 – 7:56 pm

I received a commission at the beginning of October to carve a portrait of a much loved horse. It was for a 30th Birthday present and the young girl has had the horse since he was 3yrs old.

The owner brought me in some photos to work from, her favourite recent pose of Sam the horse-he is still alive by the way in case you are worried!

I chose a suitable piece of Welsh slate about A4 size, enlarged the photo and drew on the outline.

It is very important with slate to remove only a small amount at a time to avoid any breakages. So as you can see I carve around the outline of the horse and remove some of the background slate before attempting to carve any detail.