A place to carve stone
The oldest form of art.
Stone carving is thought to be the oldest form of art, dating back thousands of years into the Stone Age. Our ancient ancestors chipped away at stone to make new shapes, creating something personal and with meaning, from the oldest and most durable material on earth.
A new career.
Local Sculptor, Kevin Ford, started carving five years ago at a workshop in the remote village of Canada de Benatanduz in the hills of Aragon in Spain, working in Spanish Alabaster. The experience of creating sculpture from stone felt so natural that he was hooked and decided to develop the activity into a new career. He had previously owned and run a successful management training company until 2012.
He has been back to Aragon, like the swallows, every year to carve more, working alongside sculptors from all over the world.
A simple process?
The process is simple. You take a lump of ancient material such as alabaster and carve it into shape using a mallet and chisels in much the same way the ancient Egyptians would have worked. The only limit to what can be done is in your imagination of the shape that the stone might reveal. Sculptors talk of holding a conversation with the stone, having a clear shape in mind but being guided by the look and feel of the stone itself.
Stone is a natural material. There is a magic in working with a lump of stone that was formed millions of years ago. You are connected to the past whilst creating something unique and new.
Developing skills
Kevin continued his development studying with Glenn Morris, an award-winning sculptor, based in Wales. This led to his first large piece ‘Estyn’ carved from Kilkenny Blue Limestone. Compared to alabaster which is soft and easy to work, the blue limestone is tough and unforgiving. Working this size of stone involves using angle grinders to speed up the removal of the material. This is noisy and dusty so sculptors tend to work in isolated places!
Next year he has been commissioned to make a limestone sculpture for a country house hotel in rural Ireland, as well as several smaller commissions.
New home wanted.
Having worked as a nomad Kevin needs to find a home in South Leicestershire for his activities. He is looking to rent or buy a suitable space – ideally a part of a barn or large shed/workshop, with electricity and water. The host will benefit from the presence of a practising sculptor and seeing living shapes emerging from lumps of rock!
If you have a space that might be suitable you can contact Kevin by email on kevinfordfpm@gmail.com or by phone on 07733 331580.
Kibworth Easy Riders
