Graeme Mitcheson – Stone Sculptor, ARBS

4 of the 5 sculptors with their work.

Here are latest bunch of graduates from one of my weekend carving courses. 5 people took part with Rob having to leave early with his Brancusiesque sculpture thus missing out on the photo. They all worked extremely hard for the 2 days, especially on the Saturday when enough stone was removed to re surface the drive at Hall Farm. The results were excellent. Rachael made a Randall Page style fruit, Donna a beautiful polished ancaster limestone water feature, Steve a tall twisting piece and Neil made….erm…..lets just say he worked really hard and made some interesting shapes! Well done to everyone it was good fun and you all have something to be proud of even if you are not quite sure what it is meant to be !

What a great week I had last week at Rawlins College in Quorn. The project quickly picked up pace during the week as more and more kids came out to work on the stone seats. Despite the scorching temperatures,over 100 students worked on the sculptures and many returned time after time to carve, file and polish the stones. The results are 3 sculptures that are situated in the “Hub” area of the college and will be sat on and admired by hundreds of students and teachers for many years to come. Well done to everyone involved and thankyou for accommodating the hot and bothered sculptor !

Adam and Bradley worked tirelessly on their tree sculpture.The 3 finished seats on Friday afternoon.Marcus and Richard work on the seat designed by Lauren.

Marcus and Richard work on their seat with Lauren who designed it.The 3 finished seats on Friday afternoon.

The kids make a start on the sculptural seating

The kids at Rawlins College have made a start on the sculptural seating which will stay in their “Hub” when it is finished. They have worked their socks off so far and I will post images of their efforts later this week.

Tom scales the climbing boulder in his socks !

This is a picture of “Tom” trying out the climbing boulder in Handsworth Community Park near Sheffield. I spent a few hours there last week carving some hand and foot holes into the boulders so that they provide a challenging climbing rock for the kids. Guided by Tom, a climbing expert, I carved holes and handles so that there were opportunities for climbers of all abilities to manoeuvre around the rock. Although I still have a few more bits to carve on it, Tom managed to climb all the way around the stone which I have to say was very impressive.

This week I am based in Rawlins Community College in Quorn, Leicestershire where I will be helping the kids to make 3 sculptural seats. I popped along last week to help them to generate some ideas for the sculptures. There were some exciting designs and I have the selected the 3 to be carved this week. I will post some images here during the course of the week to show how they are getting on.

Puffing Billy

I am delighted to say that I will be returning to my native north east to make a sculpture over the course of the next few months. I will be creating a sculptural gateway for Harbottle park in Byker, Newcastle.  It is a great location for a sculpture with views over Newcastle and the Bridges of the Tyne. The park is in the process of being completely revamped and a number of sculptural entrance features are being created as part of the makeover. Over the summer, I will be involving local residents in the project with a view to installing the sculpture in the Autumn. Watch this space for progress. I was brought up in Ashington in Northumberland so Byker is only around 20 minutes drive from my parents who still live up that way in Newbiggin by the sea. My Dad is quite a talent, he makes the most amazing intricate model trains entirely from scratch. Above is a picture of “Puffing Billy” which, he tells me, is made to a scale 12mm to the foot. His website is well worth a visit at www.georgem.co.uk  Needless to say, my Dad’s help on all things technical has been invaluable over the years, however, I will be requiring him to help with all things related to cup of tea making if I am to be spending a bit more time in the north east !

Martian madness.

Saturday saw the opening of a new exhibition at the Ferrers Centre for Arts and Crafts at Staunton Harold in Leicestershire. The show is hosting the work of 50 Leicestershire artists including 3 small pieces by yours truly. The exhibition is due to last until the end of June and is certainly well worth a look. As part of the opening of the event, I was invited to run a stone carving demo in the courtyard of the Ferrers Centre on Satutrday. This brought back a few memories as this is where I had my first workshop from 1995 to 2003. Aside from catching up with some old friends,  I thoroughly enjoyed spending a few hours in the sunshine chiseling and chatting. I was ably assisted by my 10 year old son who set about making his own sculpture. His intricate design based on an amalgamation of alien creatures certainly generated more interest than my wavy/fishy sculpture. Despite this, I vowed not be too down heartened and to keep on practicing.