Landing

‘Landing’ (33.5 x 24 x 7 cm).

©HatchBurnCarve

This piece has now been sold.

Carved from an approximately 300 year old Cornish roof slate, ‘Landing’ is a representation of three crow forms and the silhouettes made by these birds as they transition from flight to landing.

The silhouettes were drawn and designed for carving after capturing many photographs of corvids in the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and Cornwall.

A tactile piece with contrasting textures between the relief carved polished crows and the gold enamelled background. The background has been meticulously hand enamelled using professional monument/memorial enamel.

The base is hand made from reclaimed hardwood, sanded and polished with beeswax.

The Ethos of Hatch, Burn, Carve

As I’ve had a lot of new likes over on Facebook and many more viewers of my blog, I wanted to share a bit about the background to creating my pieces and the things which inspire and drive me.
Practically all of the material I use is reclaimed/recycled or found. There’s more than enough natural material in existence without the need for more quarrying. I spend hours and days on beautiful beaches (mainly around Cornwall and East Lothian- the main image is from a recent trip to Tyninghame Beach in East Lothian) collecting gifts from the sea such as stones and driftwood. I also seek out disused slate quarries. These long-forgotten places offer up some beautiful natural pieces of slate. In addition, I collect piles of disused slate and stone whenever this is offered to me and have a collection of material ranging from reclaimed building cladding to snooker table bases.
My pieces are inspired by nature, archaeology, folklore, heritage and the magick of the British Isles- subjects which I have been fascinated with all of my life.  As well as traditional designs, I also offer my own artistic and drawing skills and welcome commissions and ideas for pieces.

The Uffington White Horse from a magickal summer field trip I made in 2015 around many of the chalk hill figures of Southern England.

I hand carve and finish every piece- the only machines I use are a Foredom power carver, as well as cutting/prep tools such as a wet stone-saw, angle-grinders and sanders. I also use traditional hammer and chisels. No CNC routers, computer designs, carvers or sand-blasters. Slate edges are filed by hand and the surfaces are hand-sanded with up to six grades of wet and dry paper. If the piece requires enamelling, this is also done by hand.

All of this is a time consuming process (a cheeseboard/trivet typically takes around three hours to create), but it’s important to me to offer *truly* hand-crafted and bespoke items which will last for centuries.

I am passionate about the natural materials I use and am given by the land.