Ideas to Form VIII - Stone Carving

Having been selected to receive an Arts bursary last summer I decided to take the opportunity to try my hand at stone carving under Kate Semple - stone mason and sculptor based in Charlton, Somerset. A studio perched on the top of an extremely wild, windswept hill is where I disappear to chip away at stone and get creative!

In the studio

The planning is so important working with stone as theres little flexibility to make mistakes - this is something I always struggle with as I generally just want to get on and do it - but I have to say I made myself take the time to plan and make to scale maquettes, even completing drawings before I picked up a chisel! Unheard of!!

Visualising in 3D is quite a challenge having mainly focussed on painting large canvas or perspex. I find myself having to consider what the end will look like and almost mentally work back from this - something I never typically practice with painting. 

Building on the landscape theme I wanted to create organic pieces that spoke of nature. I also wanted the work to be tactile, for people to want to follow the curved surface and feel the different textures - I want people to feel involved with the end work.

'Drift'
Bath stone

My first piece 'Drift' has been a great training, learning about the process of how to carve and why one uses the different tools for specific results. I certainly believe I have created a tactile piece of sculpture with its natural smooth flow of curves and then in contrast the textured areas. I wanted to be able to see through the solidity of the stone so replicating the concept of the hole in the driftwood I carved a small hole so you can glimpse through to the other side. Im please with this first piece, theres lots to learn and improve on but its given me a taste of what is possible.

Second piece 'unfinished' I wanted to build on the techniques used in 'Drift' and start to be more self led. I did in-fact spend more time planning (yes I'm learning!) and created a maquette, templates and drawings - spoke to other sculptors at the studio and generally gave more thought to this next piece. Im thrilled because its in a sense more geometrical, I've had to use the templates and concentrate on keeping form and shape, ('Drift' was a little more free form in hindsight!) Creating energy and flow in the stone and contrasting smooth and texture important. The hole was interesting as I wanted to do something slightly different with it, so I decided to replicate the shape of the overall piece but then create a concave dish on either side to frame the hole. The large flat surfaces polished smooth the concave dish lightly textured. The piece is not quite finished as yet but I have found a lovely old gnarled sleeper and lump of concrete which it will stand on - elevated off the ground.

Im very excited about continuing my sculpting in stone - I would like to think about how I might be able to combine perhaps the use of light and stone together to create interesting sculptural pieces ..... something to think about and work on next year.