Beginners Stone Carving Class: Celtic Knot Relief

In this workshop, Ann-Margreth will teach you the fundamental skills of relief stone carving, showing you how to design and low-relief carve a Celtic knot design into stone. A design will be provided with the aim of introducing and carving the specific template. Additionally, Ann-Margreth will give out other designs and share resources on how to design and draw your own Celtic knot should you wish to challenge yourself further. You will explore the space between the 2 and 3 dimensional using a range of processes, materials, tools, and techniques.Before you start carving your design, Ann-Margreth will demonstrate the tools and basic stone carving techniques so you can feel ready to put a chisel on your stone and carve. She will explain the characteristics of the material of sedimentary rock and Portland Stone as the choice of geological material for this workshop. You will learn about the history of Celtic designs, looking at historical examples of stone relief carvings.You will learn about low-relief carving and what it means to work between the 2D and 3D perspectives. Once you have chosen a design, you will spend time considering negative spaces and symmetry, understanding that forms weave constantly over and under. You will create relevant cuts in the Celtic knot design, printed on card, and weave strips of card into the cuts made. You will then observe the card lifting and dropping where the card is woven into the design to help you understand the relevance of the physical weave in relation to the carving. Next, you will transfer the design with carbon paper onto a stone tile, making necessary amendments to the transferred design. Ann-Margreth will then show you how to visualise the reductive technique of carving, using the card model as an aid so you can begin stone carving.You will leave this workshop with an understanding of the ancient craft of stone carving, translating observation of a 3D form to drawing, and with the skills to compose a design for a relief. You will have a Celtic knot design carved in Portland stone. All materials and equipment are provided, including FFP3 disposable dust masks. A mask must be worn whilst stone carving for your safety.A list of stone and tool suppliers, along with an extensive bibliography, is available to all students and can be emailed or given out as a printed copy at the end of the 3 days. Read more details