The Stone Carving Studio 2024 blog/news
We’ve had another wonderful year at The Stone Carving Studio, lots and lots of fabulous work from the students, lots of tea drunk and lots of chat and laughter, sounds like the perfect combination!
We had some good trips out too. A large group of us headed across the bride to Wales on an overnight study trip. We started at the St. Fagan’s National Museum of History just outside Cardiff. It contains buildings from all around Wales that are fine examples of the vernacular architecture that were in danger of demolition. They were lovingly dismantled and rebuilt in the beautiful museum grounds to form this wonderful living museum.
We then trapsed along Penarth beach to search for Alabaster that naturally forms in the cliffs, falls onto the beach as pure white lumps that then dissolve in the sea water. We picked up some small lumps to take home and carve. It is very soft, but nice to carve and can be polished. The walk back along the beach seemed longer with the weight of stone in our bags, but everyone managed to find some nice pieces. We’re going to have a Penarth alabaster sculpture competition in October to see what everyone made from them.
The following day we visited Caerleon Roman Fortress, Baths and Museum near Newport. It really brings home how the Roman Legions arrived in Britain and took control of everything around them, building barracks, baths, gymnasiums and theatres with cool efficiency. There is so much to see there, and the atmosphere of Roman life is convincingly recreated.
Stone Carving Studio trip to St. Fagans Museum near Cardiff
Penarth trip for the Stone Carving Studio students to pick up Alabaster
A Roman plaque with a corner painted to its original colours. In the museun at Caerleon near Newport
Alabaster in the cliffs at Penarth. Stone Carving Studio school trip
Enjoying the Roman amphi-theatre at Caeleon near Newport
Hiking back to Penarth with Alabaster in their bags on a Stone Carving Studio Trip with Kate Semple
Fierce looking Roman Head from the museum at Caerleon near Newport
Camerton Court
We were lucky enough to be invited to look around the beautiful grounds and sculptures of Camerton Court near Bath. Nick and Julieann (who comes carving at the studio) gave us a warm welcome and described to us the history and the inspiration behind all the sculptures that adorn the gardens. Most of them are made from stone and carved by Kate’s colleague and friend Derek Carr who sadly died a few years ago.
It was a boiling hot day, but everyone thoroughly enjoyed the tour and fully appreciated the skills Derek had working stone.
After the tour we had tea and cake in the Orangery. There was some cracking cake brought by the stone carvers that we all enjoyed.
Many thanks to Nick and Julieann for a fabulous afternoon and for their kind generosity.
The Lynn Chadwick Estate
Kate and a couple of her students were invited to visit the Lynn Chadwick Lypiatt Estate in Gloucestershire. It was a great experience to meet his daughter and to be shown her father’s sculptures in such a beautiful setting. They sat in the landscape as if they had been born there. They looked so at peace and comfortable in their surroundings. Figures with strength and sensitivity in equal measure adorned the hills and dips of the estate, seeing them was really quite moving.
Visiting Lynn Chadwick’s estate
A wonderful visit to the Lynn Chadwick estate to see his sculpture
