Lepus Melangell- A Commission in Honour of the Patron Saint of Hares

‘Lepus Melangell’ (© HatchBurnCarve). Carved from a 32 x 23.5 x 2 cm piece of reclaimed slate. The carved design incorporates the outline of the hare I’ve used on a number of occasions along with a stylised Carolingian cross (consisting of four interlinked triquetras) elongated and compressed to fit within the hare.

My customer also requested a rock art design based on constellations, specifically those around the Pole Star that they see from their garden. With this in mind, the carvings below the hare are based on Polaris (the North Star) with Ursa Major (the Plough or Big Dipper) and Cassiopeia. Once I’d carved the hare and removed the material around it with bull-nose chisels, I had the idea to stipple the entire area to provide more contrast, so thousands of small indents later….! I shared images of progress with my customer at each stage and, after applying gold enamel to the Carolingian cross, they suggested a silver enamel background to contrast this, represent moonlight and continue the night sky theme.

This commission was to reflect my customers love of hares as well as the shrine of St Melangell, near Llangynog in Powys. Melangell was a 7th Century saint who travelled from Ireland to live as a hermit at the site where her church now stands. According to legend, she rescued a hare that was being pursued by a pack of hounds and hid it in her cloak. Following this act of kindness, she became the patron saint of hares. As with many ancient shrines, the site of her church dates back thousands of years before Christianity came to this country. The church sits within a circular churchyard in the Berwyn Mountains, surrounded by 2000 year old yew trees encircling a site of Bronze Age burials.

Stepping Stones for Greener Peebles Community Garden and Scotland’s Year of Stories

Greener Peebles (in the Borders town of the same name) is a Scottish charity that offers over 2500 volunteering hours annually to all ages and all abilities. Through their community garden, they provide free food for all volunteers in addition to pick-your-own days for the whole community. Scotland’s Year of Stories was commemorated in 2022, a year in which stories from, or inspired by, Scotland are celebrated, written, created and read. Greener Peebles was one of the charities that have benefited from community funding and among the many events, they have created a permanent art trail in the garden.

When they approached me to ask if I would create three stepping stones for the garden, I was delighted! My stones form a cohesive link between the entrance to the garden and a piece carved from wood in the pine trees at the back (created by Nik Savage).

Stepping across the stones;

‘I Remember When…’

Towards the trees where you’ll find the wooden seat of the Story Swing and;

‘The sun rose through these pines again’

To create the stones I chose two large slabs of reclaimed Caithness flag stone. I wanted to use a stone that had a textured surface and working (a little) with Caithness stone before, I love the contrast between the natural muddy-brown surface and the almost obsidian or jet-like quality of the stone when it is worked and polished. Using my angle-grinder, I partly cut through the largest slab to form the ‘remember’ and ‘when’ stones, finally separating them using a claw chisel. I randomly ground and cut the edges of all three stone with my claw chisel and angle-grinder to give them a more ‘natural’ look and feel. Following this, I started sanding and polishing- from 80 grade with my Makita finishing sander, another two grades using this, then onto hand sanding with wet-and-dry paper down to 1200 grade.

The lettering I choose was based on the Book of Kells quill formations from the George Bain Celtic Art book. After drawing the individual letters and getting the visual spacing correct between each one, I transferred the words to the stone slabs using white carbon paper. I was finally ready to start carving and thoroughly enjoyed this. Much time was spent keeping my chisels sharp due to the hardness of Caithness stone These stones are really the first large V-cut lettering pieces I’ve done and despite the riven (uneven) surface, the hardness of Caithness stone and the letter style, my client and I were very pleased with the final result.

On site, the stones were aligned in respect to each other, trenches cut and levelled, and the bottom filled with a thick bed of Semi-dry mortar mix.

Three Swallows

‘Three Swallows’ was carved from a natural stone I found in the sea off the coast of Cornwall a few years ago (42 x 12 x 5 cm).

After carving the design, the swallows were enamelled with two coats of metallic gold 1-Shot enamel.

The plinth was made from a piece of reclaimed Caithness stone. I made the initial cuts with my angle grinder, and the mortise was carved to depth using a combination of hammer and claw/bullnose chisels, and a large diameter diamond burr.

The completed piece (50 x 28 x 34 cm) in my customer’s garden;

Om Ah Hung Slate Monoliths

These monoliths were cut, carved, enamelled and polished from 2.5 cm thick slabs of reclaimed building cladding. From start to finish, this was a project of intense concentration and precise measurements until their final installation in a garden in Devon.

The above image shows the three syllables chiselled out and in the process of adding relief ‘detailing’ with my Foredom.

The above image shows the Hung syllable after carving the ‘detailing’.

The Hung syllable after polishing and adding three coats of signwriters/monument enamel.

After carefully transporting the three stones over a journey of 400 miles, my wife and I spent around 10 hours digging the trench (in appalling ground conditions!) for the installation. Firstly, the plinths were assembled- these were pre-cut slate slabs and monoblocks adhered using CT-1 construction adhesive;

Once in place and all levels were correct, the trench was filled with concrete;

The ground was returned to the original state, wrappings removed and the stones unveiled;

The Dragon Gate

After many hours of planning, design, cutting, wood-carving and slate-carving, I finally installed this in the customer’s garden last week.

Assembled using half-lap joints, dowels and Gorilla Glue- I made this without using a single screw and the only nails are in the framing around the dragon head (design © Hatch, Burn, Carve/Martin Wilson).

I based the design on the drawing and brief supplied, but I also used Phi (the Golden Ratio) to work out proportions and dimensions.

The details in the wood are all hand-carved. Marbles have been embedded in the wood to catch the sun and light up like LED’s.

If you would like a truly individual garden gate, please PM me or email hatchburncarve@yahoo.co.uk and we can discuss your ideas

The dragon head after carving and before inserting into the gate.

Carving the details into the wood.

Assembly of the gate.

The Swallow Gate

A hand crafted garden gate from 2014.

Here it is in place (and before the customer stained/preserved it);

This took a fair amount of mathematics and four full days of work before installation.

The carved swallow insert (© Hatch, Burn, Carve/Martin Wilson);

 

The gate during construction. This was made using lap joints and dowels (not a single screw or nail was used);

If you would like me to create a unique piece of art for your garden entrance, please use the contact form or email hatchburncarve@yahoo.co.uk.

The Long Man

After carving the Uffington horse for a stable sign, I wanted to do more in the way of chalk hill figures.

In 2014, I was given this very large (and heavy) Cornish roof slate (60 x 40 cm), so it was the ideal media to carve a representation of the Long Man of Wilmington.

I still have this piece if you are interested- please use the contact form or  email hatchburncarve@yahoo.co.uk

Here’s the slate after carving and the beginning of enamelling the piece by hand;

Feet done;

 

Hours of careful enamelling, and the Long Man is finished;

 

Pyramids Of Slate

As I rarely turn down an offer of reclaimed slate, I often end up with large amounts that are not suitable for carving or making roofs on birdhouses/wood stores. Part of the ethos of HatchBurnCarve is to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill, so I try to use as much of my collected material as I can.

Although some slates are unsuitable for carving, they can still be used to create pieces such as slate pyramids. Tucked away in a corner of a garden (or in the middle of a bed or border) they provide layer upon layer of microhabitat for garden insects and larvae.

I view a garden as a complete ecosystem made up from niches, each of which will be inhabited by insects, animals, birds. By caring for the smallest of creatures, you are providing the very basis of grounding for your whole garden. Get out there. Get mud under your fingernails.

I can make these to order. Send me a message using the contact form, or email hatchburncarve@yahoo.co.uk.