Carving: by heart, by hand

Carving

Over my years of doing stonework, I’ve developed an affinity for carving. I like to hand carve letters for markers, house numbers, and most recently, pet memorials. I enjoy the precision and the meditative aspect of hand cutting letters. Occasionally, I will create relief sculptures to go in mosaics or retaining walls.

While not exactly a lost art, hand carving letters is not widely practiced anymore. The vast majority of the gravestones made today utilize sandblasting technology. It is certainly faster and cheaper than hand carving. But sometimes the project demands a hand made detail, something that shows the human touch. Sometimes there is great value in the extra time spent.

House number carved in bluestone, embedded in drystone wall

Relief elephant in a small wall, Beaver Lake area

Working on an elephant carving at the shop

House number engraved in a piece of flagstone

Inscribed limestone donut, part of a communal urn we built for a local church

I hung a weighted bucket from the carving table for the limestone donut to reduce vibrations. Idea borrowed from NOVA on PBS!

Starting on a memorial for Simba, a client's pet

A relief element for one of our mosaics in Norfolk

Starting on a lizard, carved in bluestone