Carving on Churchill

Wednesday saw an early start to the day so the van had been loaded up the night before. All the stone blocks had been prepared and cut to size and all the hand tools had been sharpened and sorted for the carving workshop at Churchill Primary School in Caledon.

It was a real delight to come to such a wonderful school, in such beautiful surroundings and on such a beautiful sunny day. 

When I arrived I was meet with 24 very enthusiastic children and supportive staff that certainly made me feel very welcome.

The first part of the morning involved giving a short talk and presentation to the children on my work as a sculptor. It was also a great opportunity to show images of the 'Unity' Public Art Project and talk about the design and methods I will be using to create the large stone cogs.

I had brought with me a variety of imagery and got the children to pin it up on boards and arrange it into themes relating to the Industrial Heritage of Caledon as well as images of architectural features within the town and agricultural links to the area. From this stimulus the children then discussed and developed their ideas ready to make a small drawing. Once their drawings had been created we enlarged a section of the sketch onto a square page the same size of their carving block. The intention was to have a bold and simple design that would be symbolic of one of our themes.

Once outside the children listened attentively as I delivered a very important Health and Safety demonstration on using the tools before getting down to drawing on the stone and picking up their mallets and chisels.

Without any hesitation everyone got straight down to work. They were all naturals!

The art of low relief carving!

Everyone was working so hard and it was great to hear 24 hammers beating away and the sound of everyone giving each other encouragement, sharing their new ways of working and how their designs were developing.

Paying close attention to accurately carving what has been drawn.

A wall of twenty four relief carvings skillfully carved by all the Yr 6 Pupils at Churchill Primary School. We had a real variety of imagery from tools and spanners, stone bridges and farm animals to flowers, dresses and a violin. 

The artists and their masterpieces!

A massive thank you for the support and assistance on the day from Mrs Cartmill, Mrs Black and the Artist Eleanor Wheeler who is currently working on a Public Art Project with the Community of Middletown.

Stone Carving Workshop at Churchill P.S.

On the 22^nd April 2015 I will be delivering a stone - carving lesson to a class of Yr6 pupils at Churchill Primary School, Caledon. Twenty four pupils will be creating their very own ‘bas – relief’ carving using tools and techniques similar to those used by myself in the carving of the ‘Caledon Cogs’ sculpture.

The pupils will create some bold, simple yet strong preliminary drawings based around the theme of the ‘River Blackwater’ and the ‘Industrial Heritage of Caledon’. Images of canal boats, horses and industrial tools and machinery may be the kind of ideas carved. The images will then be transferred on to the stone blocks for carving and displayed in an arrangement of six columns.

The experience for all the pupils is not only about encouraging them to discover new methods of mark making through the use of tools and techniques but also exploring the idea of linking aspects of local history to their immediate environment both past and present.

A short presentation will also given the pupils and teachers at Churchill P.S. regarding the ‘Unity’ Public Art Project.

 East Farleigh Primary School, Kent. Stone Carving Workshop with Yr 5 and 6 pupils.

Public Presentation - Meet the Artist!

From personal experience the best way to generate some interest in a public art project is by holding a presentation evening where members of the local community can meet the selected artist and view the proposed artwork. This kind of event can be very rewarding for both the artist and the local community as it opens debate while allowing residents to contribute ideas and suggestions that may feed into the overall design of the sculpture. On this occasion and at an event like this I have collaborated with two other artists working on a similar Public Art project for the nearby town of Middletown, they are Alan Cargo and Eleanor Wheeler.

On Tuesday the 4th March 2015, Alan and Eleanor delivered their presentation for their proposed artwork for Middletown. Afterwards, and after a few technical delays I was able to show my proposal for Caledon and take questions on the concept and design. On the following Wednesday 5th March we travelled up the road to Caledon to meet and present our ideas again for both sculpture projects.

Having this opportunity to discuss historical details and share stories about the people, buildings and the town’s future aspirations was priceless. As a result several themes developed regarding the development of small bronze tiles that could be incorporated into the sculpture. A select few residents have taken the baton and are in search of some archival postcards and photos that relate to themes of agriculture, architecture, the Ulster Canal and Caledon's Industrial Heritage.
The intention is that form holding another community workshop, these images and ideas can be transferred into plaster tiles and then cast in bronze to preserve the legacy of the town.

Wall of Stone

Cutting the stone for Caledon!

This wall of stone had not moved in 250 million years and had been diamond sawn into one large chunk of 11metres high , 2.7 m deep and 13metres long ( 386 cubic metres ) . The power of three caterpillar excavators was needed to topple this monolith. Quarry manager Peter Dowling orchestrated the movement of the three machines until gravity takes over . This quarry has been owned and operated by Mc Keon Stone Ltd since 1960 , and is the source of Europe's Best Blue Limestone who are currently sourcing the material to be used in the 'Caledon Cogs'.

Unity

The two ‘Mechanical Cogs’ are joined together to create a sense of 'Unity', as well as a sense of motion to explore the idea of ‘Industrial Movement’. The stone will be worked in the quarry using a combination of both old and new techniques. This combination of CNC technology and hand tools / carving, references the progress associated with ‘the Industrial Movement’. Both carvings are made from the same stone type. One stone is honed with a natural quarry face colouring while the connecting stone is highly polished with the black finish referencing the River Blackwater and the association with the Ulster canal. The cogs will act as 'markers' of reference within the local community for which they have been built.

Natural Stone Selection

The sculptures that I have designed for Caledon have been created with a consideration to the uniformity of the Kilkenny Limestone and its potential to be split into large thin slabs of consistent thickness,

This is a very uniform limestone with few surface imperfections. These properties make it ideal for carving and limestone of this class can hold very fine detail when used in sculpture, headstones, plaques, or ornamental features. The stone will also develop a deep lustrous polish, ideal for the concepts set out in the sculpture trail artwork.

The Carboniferous Period left much of the island of Ireland covered by limestones. Over 2,000 years of use as a building material has established their durability. Irish Blue Limestone has been used for centuries as the material of choice for the construction of prestige buildings. It can be worked to provide colours that range from deep blue black to subtle blue grey and surface textures ranging from silky smooth to positively aggressive. In the hands of a skilled architect, designer or mason the combination of colours and textures can bring the most mundane structure to life or produce stunning variations with the interplay between light and texture.

The extract above has been taken from the lovely people of McKeon Stone who will be the providers of all 4 tonne of Kilkenny for this project.

http://www.mckeonstone.ie/page.asp?cid=6

Caledon's link with Limestone

To tell the story of Irish Blue Limestone you need to go back about 370 million years. Obviously at that time Ireland was not the green countryside which everyone is now familiar with in the guide books, but rather part of the floor of a shallow inlet of the sea. This inlet lay on the southern edge of a large landmass which included the present day North America, Europe and Asia and was about 5 degrees North of the equator.

During this long geological history the Dinantian sediments changed from soft unconsolidated muds into the limestone beds that underlie much of the central part of Ireland.All over Ireland ancient monuments can be found from early pre-christian tombs to Christian celtic stone crosses.