Cat's Eye Carving

Viking commission.

26 December, 2024 – 11:45 am

I was asked to carve a replica of a small glass ornament that my customer owned.

I wanted to use my favourite Tetbury limestone, and thankfully I still have some in my store.

After I had rounded the stone, I started to mark where the details would be.

I left some stone on to create a moustache and asked my customer to come in and give me his input. He was happy with my progress, but wasn’t keen on the moustache. It’s better to do it this way, I can’t put the stone back.

It’s quite tricky interpreting from photographs, but he turned out really well and reminds me of Noggin the Nog and the Lewis chess set.

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Cleaning a door surround.

25 October, 2024 – 11:15 am

This lovely brick house is finished with stone door and window surrounds, unfortunately pollution has turned some areas black.

My customer asked if I could clean it off and make good the eroded stone.

The weather over the years has attacked the soft bed layers in the stone and left it pitted and worn, the fossils and calcite layers have created natural shelves for me to build my mortar repairs onto. I did have to chop some of the stone away to create seats to build the lime mortar onto.

Cement has been used in the past to try and re-construct the stone, unfortunately cement speeds up the erosion process by trapping the water in the already damaged stone.

The first thing was to do was to clean the stone with water and scrubbing brushes and then I applied a poultice to break the black stain down so that it was easier to wash away.

Once the cleaning was finished, I could get on with preparing the stone for the repairs.

The mortar needs to be built up gradually and kept damp to prevent it from shrinking and failing.

I have done all I can this season. After the last frosts next Spring, I can assess what needs to be done to complete the work. At this stage, I am happy with the repairs but it is important to assess after the Winter to ensure that the repairs have been successful

Lime needs to be worked with above 5 degrees otherwise any frosts will cause it to fail.

I look forward to completing this job next year and sharing the final photos with you.

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Letter cutting commissions.

8 September, 2024 – 9:32 am

This house sign is hand carved out of Portland limestone and is finished with 23 carat gold leaf.

Before I start carving I draw out the design on the surface of the stone and check with my customer that they are happy before any carving starts.

Florence Villas was a replacement for a very broken piece of Bath stone from over a 100 years ago. I used a coarse Lepine which has good weathering properties.

Senlac is hand carved out of a piece of seasoned Oak and I have finished this with black paint and yacht varnish. Young’s Cottage is hand carved Welsh slate and due to the nature of this material, it doesn’t need painting.

This memorial is hand carved out of Old Red sandstone from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, the images are important to the family, I have finished this with enamel paint and gold leaf on the sun.

Cleaning memorials is very satisfying as it brings the carving back to fresh and like new. I have scrubbed these ones, sanded them and then re-painted the letters.

If you would like to find out any more information on the services that I provide, please feel free to get in touch.

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Restoration of stone plinths.

30 August, 2024 – 12:19 pm

After the painter had been in and conserved the wooden pillars, it was my turn to bring the stone plinths back from their sorry state.

Some areas could have mortar repairs built onto them, whereas the front of one of them needed a whole new piece. I used Portland limestone from Dorset as I believe that was what had been used for the originals.

This is an area where mortar repairs were built onto the stone. I used lime putty and stone dust to create a good match, lime putty needs tending until it has hardened and not shrunk or cracked.

Once the new piece was built onto the brick plinth, I used Hydraulic lime for this mortar as it dries quickly. I was able to finish off the final corner of the other plinth.

I re-used the original corner and pinned it back to the rest of the stone using a threaded stainless steel bar, once the glue had dried, I soaked the stone and built up the mortar repair.

I applied a lime putty shelter coat to the plinths to protect and finish them off. This shelter coat protects the stone and allows the water to move freely through the stone, paint would trap the water.

When doing repairs like these, there is a fine line between conservation and restoration. I made the decision not to fill every ding in the stone and I am really pleased with the overall result.

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Carving projects.

19 August, 2024 – 11:49 am

My commissions start with a sketch, this Pigeon drawing is the fist stage in carving a pair of Pigeons. The pub that they are going to, The Blue Pigeons is being renovated and will re-open in October as a boutique hotel with restaurant and bar. The owners have also bought my carving, Pins and Needles to sit in pride of place in their new establishment.

I am using Tetbury limestone for this carving, it is the stone that I carved Pins and Needles out of, and is lovely to carve. A honey colour with veins of Calcium Carbonate and fossils running through it. Sadly the quarry was forced to close in 2020. As you can see, there is still work to do before they are finished, they will be adorned with hops and vine leaves.

Back in May I took part in an exhibition at St Nicholas Church in Ash, this pair of Tetbury limestone books, inspired by Bluebells was one of my new carvings that I had on display there.

They are still available to buy at £225.

As an old Manwoodian, it is always lovely to be able to give back. This is a carving that I did for them to help raise money for one of the old boarding houses to be turned into an A-level centre. This is the Sir Roger Manwoods coat of arms that I was proud to wear on my blazer.

I hand carved it out of a piece of Welsh slate from the Horseshoe Pass in North Wales. Once the carving was complete, I hand finished it with enamel paint and Gold leaf.

In the time between commissions, I have started to carve the full size stone carving of my ‘Go away, don’t go away’ a drawing that I made in March 2020, I was able to carve her during lockdown on a small scale in a piece of Tetbury limestone. This was the physical form that my emotions took during the pandemic.

I now have the space to carve her on a larger scale, I am using a piece of Lepine limestone, but I know that she will take on a new direction as I no longer have these feelings.

I’m looking forward to working on her on August Bank Holiday Monday.

If you have an idea for a carving and would like to discuss this please feel free to get in touch or pop in and see me. I currently have a 6-8mth waiting list.

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