This Mani stone commission was carved from a stone I found in my local river, the Leithen Water (a tributary of the River Tweed). It measures around 46 x 26 x 6 cm and weighs 13 Kg.
It was placed by my customer at the base of a memorial tree in Nunhead Cemetery in the London Borough of Southwark. Nunhead is one of the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ cemeteries in London (the others being Kensal Green, West Norwood, Highgate, Abney Park, Brompton and Tower Hamlets).
A Mani stone commission from 2019.
Hand carved from a natural stone found in the sea off the coast of Cornwall (measuring approximately 24 x 15 x 5 cm).
This Mani stone commission was carved from a stone I found in my local river (the Leithen Water in the Scottish Borders). I designed the Snow Lion with reference to the Tibetan national emblem. Measuring 46 x 28 x 6 cm and weighing 14 Kg, this was entirely hand carved using my Foredom power carver, and hammer and chisel.
The mantra outline was carved with 1 mm diamond burrs, continually spraying the stone with water during the power carving process.
After the mantra outline was completed, I carved around the syllables with my 6 mm Europ chisel and Tiranti Italian dummy mallet.
The Tibetan Snow Lion was carved using 0.8 mm and 1 mm Eternal Tools diamond ball burrs.
After the stone was washed, the Tibetan Snow Lion was carefully enamelled with gold 1-Shot using a Size 0 Lawrence Micro-Detail brush.
The completed piece.
A small selection of some recent Mani stones that I’ve been carving. These are hand carved in my workshop in the Scottish Borders from natural stones and sea stones (mantras range from approximately 19 to 25 cm).
I’m the only person in the UK who carves and sells Tibetan Buddhist mantra and syllable stones. I supply Kagyu Samye Ling (the largest Tibetan Buddhist centre in Western Europe) as well as Kagyu Samye Dzong in London and Santosa in Edinburgh.
If you would like me to carve a Tibetan Buddhist stone for you, just get in touch (I usually have a small selection of these in stock, or I can create one for you).
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;
Hand carved in the Scottish Borders from natural Cornish beach stones.
On sale at Kagyu Samye Dzong, London and also available to order direct from Hatch, Burn, Carve.
I based these skulls on a photograph of an ancient (and very worn) Tibetan Buddhist stone.
These are all freehand carved before sanding/polishing to 1200 grade. Enamelled with professional signwriters enamel before finishing with slate sheen. Sizes range from 7 x 10 cm to 9 x 10.5 cm. All now sold.
Carved from hand-cut reclaimed slates (24 x 17 cm), I based these designs on an ancient stone from a book about Tibetan carvings.
A commission I made during the summer of 2015.
The 12 syllable Guru Rinpoche mantra (with my own lotus design) carved from a natural slate slab which was found at Sandy Mouth in North Cornwall (approx. 60 cm long).
Some of the 50 Tibetan Om, Sanskrit Om and Tam stones recently carved and delivered to the shop at Samye Ling. Each one individually hand carved from natural Cornish sea stones.
Tam syllable used with kind permission from Tashi Mannox.
HATCH BURN CARVE 