Details of the Gloucester Stone Carving Festival 2015

The Auction

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I am delighted that Mark Stafford Lovatt our silver tongued auctioneer is back again this year to help you part with your money.
The auction takes place on Bank Holiday Monday at 1.30pm.

The stonemasons use all their skills to carve amazing and wondrous sculptures in the form of Mythical creatures.

This year one of my fellow stonemasons took his own life, it is always a shock when someone gets so desperate this is their only way out. In memory of Billy, the Samaritans will receive 10% of the profit from the auction.

The other 90% will go to the Llanthony Secunda priory Trust to continue their valuable work.

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raffle prize

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I am pleased to show you this years raffle prize, I don’t have time to carve a new sculpture so Medusa will have to be another day.

This is Demeter, she is the Greek Goddess of Harvest and Grain and I will be carving some ears of wheat in her hair and scarf. I thought she is very apt for the time of year.

She is carved out of French limestone from Caen in Normandy, one of the original building materials brought over by the Normans.

She is 8 x 8 x 12 and 3/4 inches in size and took approximately 100 hrs to carve.

Tickets are £3 and are on sale from my studio, the draw will take place as always after the auction. Proceeds from the sale of the tickets will go towards paying for the festival.

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Work at the Priory

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I had a visit to the Priory a few weeks ago and took some photos for you to see.

The piece with my hand on it is going to be used for the raffle prize that I will be carving, it is originally off the stable building and dates back roughly 500 yrs. I believe it is Cotswold stone but I can’t be any more certain than South Gloucestershire because of it’s similarities to Painswick and Tetbury stone.

The site is slowly coming back to something recognisable and I look forward to welcoming you to my festival on August the 25th, 26th and 27th. Don’t forget the auction is on Bank Holiday Monday at 1.30pm.

 

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This years stone carving festival

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For the last 10 yrs I have been organising stone carving festivals. This years festival will be my 5th event and my 3rd collaboration with the Llanthony Secunda priory trust. It takes place on the 25th, 26th and 27th August at the Llanthony Secunda Priory in Gloucester.

The live auction of the stone carvings created over the Sat/Sun and Mon morning will take place at 1.30 pm on Bank Holiday Monday, the profit from this auction will be given to the trust.

As some of you may know my festival has always fallen on the Whitsun bank holiday (May) but this one is special as it coincides with the relaunch of this beautiful historic site.
The Llanthony Secunda Priory has an interesting story please click this link to find out about it’s history and ways that you can get involved (the new website goes live in 6 days).

In 2015 they were successful in their lottery bid and have spent the last 3 yrs working on bringing some of the buildings back into use. My festival is a celebration of this and I look forward to welcoming you to our event.

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Mythical Creatures

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This years theme will encompass the weird and wonderful, whether from myths and legends of ages past or straight out of the imagination of the stonemasons.

The participants will be given a block of stone and 2 and a half days to carve something of their own design or from myths and legends.

I will be carving a Medusa inspired sculpture and this will be the raffle prize, tickets will go on sale in the Summer. the money I raise from this helps to pay for some of the event. Why not scroll back to the last festivals and see my Elephant from 2015 and my Mermaid from 2013 which were also raffle prizes.

Me and a select few will use an original piece of the 500 yr old stable buildings, stone from one of the local and probably long lost quarries. These pieces of stone were removed as part of the restoration process and were no longer needed. We will benefit from this and the winning bidders for these carvings will not only get to take away a piece of the original building but a unique piece of sculpture. With your stone you will also receive a certificate authenticating it’s provenance.

On the bank Holiday Monday at 1.30 pm (the 27th August) we will have a live auction. The carvings that the stonemason’s will have worked tirelessly over the 20 hrs to create will be offered up for sale in a live auction. The profit raised from this auction will be given to the Priory Trust to help in their efforts to maintain this beautiful range of buildings.

The organisation of my festival is beginning to pick up momentum now so I will be updating more regularly.

I look forward to welcoming you to the Gloucester Stone Carving Festival.

 

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Taking part

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I will be emailing everyone who has taken part in the past and new people who have shown interest in the next couple of weeks.

This includes sponsors, vendors, participants and volunteers.

I am pleased to announce that our first sponsors are The Worshipful Company of Masons

If you would like to take part or sponsor my event please get in touch

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Happy New Year

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Hi everyone, I am pleased to announce that I am starting to organise this years stone carving festival.

With work progressing well at The Llanthony Secunda Priory, there will be plenty to celebrate in August as the site becomes ready to welcome visitors as an historic visitor attraction. You can visit their website, please click on the above link or their facebook page please click here for informatoin about their ongoing projects and to get involved with this beautiful site.

I hope to attract over 20 stonemasons who will carve some of the original stone taken from the old stable block and some newly quarried Cotswold stone. The theme this year is mythical creatures and I will be carving a beastie as a raffle prize. The skilled stonemasons will have the Sat/Sun and Mon morning to complete their creations before offering them up for the grand live auction on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon. Here you will be able to bid on your favourite carving and if you win then you can take home a magnificent piece of original artwork. The profit from the auction will be given to the Llanthony Secunda Priory Trust in order to help their ongoing efforts to maintain this wonderful site.

This will be my third festival on this site and I am very excited that I have a small part to play in their restoration work.

I first visited the Llanthony Secunda Priory in Gloucester in 1999 when I moved to Gloucestershire to take my position as the first female apprentice at Gloucester Cathedral and I fell in love with this poor neglected site.
I became an apprentice as a result of work experience at Canterbury Cathedral after completing my degree in fine art and sculpture. In July 1999 a few of the Canterbury Cathedral masons visited Gloucester Cathedral to take part in their stonemason’s festival . It was here that they found out about the apprenticeship and suggested that I apply.
My first experience of a Cathedral Stonemason’s festival was in the Summer of 2000 at York Minster, I was recovering from a severe injury to my left hand which ultimately forced me to give up being an employed stonemason and which is the main reason I am now a self-employed stonemason/sculptor. This event was the first carving I did on returning to work after my convalescence. The next event in 2002 was in Germany and I won the 3rd year apprentice prize out of 120 masons from 9 different countries.

In 2008 I organised my first festival at Harts Barn Craft centre where I started my life as a self-employed stone carver, we managed to raise some profit for our local charities which prompted me to organise a second on in 2009, I also took part in the Highnam Court Spring fair and a stonemasons festival in Trondheim in Norway. This was a busy year for me and I decided that I would wait until I organised my next event.
I took part in a stonemasons festival at York Minster in 2010 and it was here that I decided to start organising my event again. In 2011/12 I consulted on the stonemason’s festival that took place at St Lawrence’s Church in Ludlow, these were both a huge success for the Church and I was able to start collecting information for my next event. In 2012 I won both prizes for my carving and this was the last stonemason’s festival I took part in.

In 2013 I organised my first festival at The Llanthony Secunda Priory in Gloucester, it was scary and exciting, we managed to make a profit which was shared between the Priory Trust and the Gloucester Geology Trust. In 2015 my event became slightly larger and it was after this event that the Priory Trust received the good news that they had been successful in their Heritage Lottery bid.

Now 3 yrs on I am going to be organising the next festival which will celebrate the relaunch of this beautiful site. 10yrs after my first stonemason’s festival.

I look forward to welcoming you to the Gloucester Stone Carving Festival.

 

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2018

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I am excited to announce that the work at Llanthony Secunda Priory is progressing well and we are on schedule to have next years stonemason’s festival on the August Bank Holiday over all 3 days. The auction will take place on the Monday afternoon. This will coincide with the grand re-launch of the site and we hope to bring you a very exciting event.
If you would like to get involved as a stonemason, stall holder or volunteer please get in touch.

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Stonemason’s festival 2018

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Hi there, sorry I haven’t updated for a while, thank you for expressing an interest in the next stonemason’s festival.

As some of you may be aware The Llanthony Secunda Priory where I hold my event and who receives the profit from the final auction was awarded a 3million lottery grant to carry out work at the site. I will be having a meeting with their project manager to discuss plans for the 2018 festival.

With this in mind it may not be during the May Bank holiday as in previous years due to the work schedule but possibly on the August bank holiday weekend.

Once I have visited the site I will update you with all the latest news, photos of the projects they are carrying out and obviously the plans for my next festival.

Thanks for reading.

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