Hats an interesting sculpture

May 17th, 2012 § 0

I have been working on a sculpture for the entrance to a park on the site of the former Hafod Colliery in North Wales. The sandstone sculpture depicts objects from the the coal mining history of the site but also things that you are more likely to see on the site these days including a skylark and a great crested newt. I will post pictures of the whole piece in a couple of weeks when it is installed but here is the miners helmet which is perched on top of the work for now.

 

The June stone carving course is now full however I will be running a couple more later in the summer/autumn. Anyone interested can drop me an e-mail and I will add them to the mailing list. There are also further details of the stone carving weekends on my website at www.chisel-it.co.uk

Harlow sculptures revisited.

May 10th, 2012 § 0

Every now and again I come across a picture of a sculpture that I have not seen for a long time. The sculptures below are on the banks of the canal in Harlow in Essex, and look better today, now that they have weathered a little, than when I installed them over 5 years ago. If you would like to see more images of some of my older work, feel free to visit my main website at www.chisel-it.co.uk and browse the gallery.

Granite man lives on.

May 8th, 2012 § 0

The granite sculpture that I have been working on was installed last week. He sits hansomely on the top of a hill close to the quarry in Mountsorrel with a fine view of the Leicestershire countryside. The granite man, named Albert by quarry workers is based on a Victorian photograph of a quarry worker splitting granite. Judging by how hard it was to carve, his memory is going to live on for a very very long time !

 

 

Robin makes himself at home.

May 6th, 2012 § 0

The latest guests to book into the 2 star accommodation at my workshop at Hall Farm are a pair of robins who have decided that the best place to make their nest is between a 9 inch angle grinder and a pair of overalls! Wildlife do seem to love the workshop with recent visitors including housemartins, mice, frogs, a collared dove and a snake. Luckily I have ordered in some miniature dust masks in order to comply with health and safety regulations.

On a seperate note, I still have a place available on the stone carving course on the 15t and 16th of June if anyone is interested. If you struggle with the stone carving you can always watch the robins!  Further details are on my website at www.chisel-it.co.uk

Farewell Albert

April 25th, 2012 § 0

My lodger for the past couple of months up at the workshop finally left today, he was never much trouble so it was sad to see him go. I am referring to Albert, the granite Victorian stone worker that I have been carving. The sculpture was inspired by a very old photograph of a quarry worker on the wall of the office at the Lafarge granite quarry in Mountsorrel, he is affectionately referred to as Albert. He will be unveiled at the open day to be held at the quarry in the next couple of weeks and I will post a picture of him in his new digs in due course.

I always like to make an entrance

April 18th, 2012 § 0

In 2005, I made a sculpture for a site in Hafod near Wrexham. It was the site of the former colliery which closed its doors  in 1968. The sculptural sundial was installed on top of the old waste heap which was gradually being transformed into a nature park. 7 years on and the sculpture has settled into its environment and looks better now than the day it was installed, it still tells the time accurately too! Recently I was asked to create a new entrance feature for the car park at the bottom of the hill. I spent a day with some of the former miners of the site to discusss the type of sculpture that they think would be appropriate and earlier this week took delivery of the 4 tonne boulder that I will make the feature out of. I will post pics of the sculpture as it develops.

Granite man hard as nails.

April 9th, 2012 § 0

Work on the granite sculpture for Mountsorrel quarry is progressing well despite it being one of the toughest stones that I have come across. It has been some time since I have carved granite and I was reminded how brutal and unforgiving a stone it was when I broke 2 tungsten tipped chisels in the 1st 10 minutes of carving it. Luckily, I have come to my senses and remembered not to use sharp chisels as this does tend to happen. So, away with the diamond sharpening pads for the time being. Another feature of this stone is how incredibly sharp it is. I have taken to wearing my big dust mask and giant safety goggles just to prevent it lacerating my face when doing hand carving, the chippings  also make a terrific fizzing noise as it flies past your face! Hours of fun.

Fun in the sun.

Wave goodbye

April 3rd, 2012 § 0

I have been very busy in the last couple of weeks, finishing projects and starting new ones. As you can see, the Ancaster Limestone “Wave” sculpture was installed in Beaumaris in Anglesey last week and looks very fine indeed in its seaside home. Manhandling the artwork up steps and along sloping planks reminded me that it is often easier to install larger works (using cranes and hi-abs) than it is smaller ones ! Also finished and waiting installation, not by me I am delighted to add, is the plaque to commemorate the work of Robert Bakewell. This is going to be mounted onto the wall of Brooksby Agricultural College in Leicestershire, it is carved in Swithland Slate which I must say chiseled very well, more is the shame that it is no longer quarried.

 

Stone carving course date ammendment.

March 26th, 2012 § 0

There are still some places available on the stone carving courses scheduled for the next couple of months. The dates are the 21st and 22nd April and the 16th and 17th of June (not the 17th and 18th as previously posted, sorry about that). Let me know if you are interested and I will forward more details although there is information on my website at www.chisel-it.co.uk

Tesco sculpture installed

March 22nd, 2012 § 0

The sculpture for the Tesco site in Bedworth, Warwickshire that I have been working on since Christmas was installed yesterday. The theme for the work was the “miners grip”. At the start of the project I asked former Bedworth coal miner, 91 year old Don Spark to press his hands into a clay model of a pick axe, the imprint that he made became the starting point for the sculpture. The sculpture is carved from Kilkenny Limestone and is 3m tall. Don arrived with his family yesterday to see the finished piece.

« Older Entries