My acorn commission.
8 December, 2011 – 12:28 pmAs promised some photos!
I was given an amazing commission back in July to carve a pair of acorns and an acorn cup. I used the grey/green Forest of Dean sandstone, which is incredibly hard to carve but is very durable and will resist the frost.
They were 2ft x 12 x 12 inches, and the stone for the cup was 12 x 12 x 12 inches.
The cup was carved by first of all hollowing out the bowl-by doing this first I ensured that I had a sturdy base on which to carve. Once I had done this I finished shaping the circle and then carried on down to the base by working methodically and constantly turning the stone I was able to maintain an even shape.
Once I had drawn on the circumferance of the cup and acorn I started to remove the rough with my pitch and bolster. The way a stonemason is trained is to remove chamfers off until the desired shape has been achieved-this was how I carved the first acorn so I could get an idea of shape and scale. However the cup and second acorn were carved using my knowledge of the material, my training, and trained eye.
These are all things that a stonemason develops during the course of many years and what enables us to make what we do look so easy!!
To be continued… 🙂
