Tag: stone

A pebble

To change my mind a bit, I just made a small gilded versal on a pebble.

The patterns are inspired by those found in a 12th century manuscript and I will teach the construction of this kind of initials (but not on a pebble) in March 2023 in an online course in English that will be broadcasted by the gentle penman

Chapels

 I have been neglecting you lately, I apologise.
I’m posting on social networks because it’s quicker than describing my whole journey and taking the time to really address you here.
So a new message so that those who are not on those evil networks can see that I am still thinking of them.

These days I’m working on a commission from the town hall of Plouider, a small seaside town in Finistère. I like this township, they plant a tree for each birth in the township and asked me to calligraph the children’s names so that we can know which tree corresponds to whom. I did it last year and will do it again this year.

But today, it is another project: to calligraph 3 fragments of poems about the chapels and to put them around the Saint Fiacre chapel. The order is to do it on slate, it’s up to me to choose how.
So I decided to use Art Nouveau lettering and acrylic paint on large 40x40cm slates. The advantage is that I will be able to use the same layout for the 3 poems and thus have a unity of treatment that I would have had more difficulty in obtaining with another writing.

Here is the first text, a french translation of Shakespeare.

And whilst I’ve got your attention, I’d like to talk about something completely different. I have been selected to participate in the Write on the Edge International Calligraphy Conference in Sonoma, USA, next summer, and as part of that I have just answered a number of questions about my practice. You can find the transcript of this conversation here. And if you want to register for the courses, you can find the description of my two contributions here and there.

Sind frei

I continued typing on Namur blue stone, just to experiment with various tools.

It’s a bit too blurry for my taste, I’ll try another approach but not right away.
I have to wait until the weather improves a little, temperatures and rainfall do not encourage me to work outside for now.

Blue

Sorry to have left you without news lately, I was in Belgium to give some courses, the proof in pictures :

already tired

photo bombing (no reason for only others to have fun)

And, did you know, the Namur region produces magnificent blue stones, much used in construction. My hosts (thanks again Geneviève & Eugène!) had some in their backyard that they let me bring back with me.

First engraving try, it’s not that yet but it’s encouraging

to be followed…

Mind moves matter

It is Virgil who says it in the Aeneid and, of course, he says it in Latin: Mens agitat molem

And so, my mind, without really moving matter, transforms it.

It is a shale pebble, hand engraved with my faithful butter knife and a nail for the filigree pattern. And to give you an idea of the size, one last picture of the work when it was in progress and I was holding the pebble in my hand.

the ring

My wife lost her wedding ring. It slipped off her finger during a swam on a beach where we use to go.
The waves movements quicly make it illusive to get it back.
By way of vengeance, I picked a pebble on the beach and made her a ring out of it.
Here are the steps of the design :

The pebble (doesn’t wonder what will happen to him)


The same one, sliced


To avoid to much sanding, after marking the inside diameter of the ring, more cutting


Here comes the hollowing out


The inside is sanded, time to even up the outside and to polish it all


The ring finished, all angles polished to avoid sharp edges, only the varnish to get done


And my wife’s hand has a new ornament, phew, the worst has been avoided 🙂