Hallo

So,  Hallo there folks

In its inception this blog was meant to serve my stone carving business but  I had little to comment on the business side of things. Because the business was a seasonal affair meant that I've lived a transitory and fractured lifestyle for much of the past fifteen years. Thus I felt unable to take the time and effort to dedicate myself to any sort of online presence. 

Now I find myself semi-settled. I thus seek to remedy the stark nature of this blog and begin posting, on a weekly basis, various notions and ideas, with a unifying theme of historical and symbolic content. As far as it goes this is the only guideline I have and where the content may drift is anyone’s guess. 

I’m also hoping to put up some of my art work, both that rendered onto/in stone and that which I am currently engaged upon with pencil and paper, graphics tablet and photoshop… hell I might even add a few poems and writing… who knows! 

So this is by way of introduction. I have deleted former posts in an attempt to tidy up the appearance. More items will follow soon. In the meantime here are some pictures of my stone carving from over the past 16 years.

This design is based on the Bullion Stone design, a Pictish stone from Angus. Like many of my pieces the biggest 'sellers' are copies of original motifs. Over the two decades carving stone I've sourced a huge collection of obscure designs. 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe this design is from the Book Of Kells, the ninth century manuscript. Though I could be wrong. I traced the design from George Bain's Celtic Art book ( a must for any artist, tattooist etc etc).  Such complex designs are always traced from reference material, but all small designs for the pendants are sketched freehand with a diamond file. 

A number of years ago I carved a selection of work for an exhibition in a craft centre near Aberdeen. This griffon is my own creation, a spontaneous piece, no panning, I just had a hunch and went with it. 

Detail of a Celtic Dog design, again another motif from the Book Of Kells. 

And to finish off this post I just want to say a big thanks to my friend Kim Ayres who is a veteran blogger who gave me some vital advice about the art of blogging. You can find Kim here