Video- Letter Carver Fergus Wessel – The Spirit of Lettering in Stone

New Video on Letter Cutter Fergus Wessel

Have a look at my video on my love of fine lettering in stone.  I speak about the process of making hand carved headstones, memorials, heraldry and the importance of detail. #headstones #video #memorials #typography

http://stoneletters.com/video

Obelisk Sundial at Buscot Park, Oxfordshire

Last winter I was asked by Lord Faringdon of Buscot Park, Oxfordshire, to make an Obelisk Sundial to go at the end of a sweeping walk in the grounds of Buscot Park. The obelisk was designed by Sundial expert Sir Mark Lennox-Boyd to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
The obelisk has 6 faces of green slate, with noduses made from bronze with gold plate. One each face I carved Egyptian hieroglyphs which represent six different things, namely the Queen, Morning, Noon, Eternity, and Afternoon. I was given advice on these carvings by an Egyptologist from the British Museum.
Buscot Park, in Oxfordshire has fantastic sweeping grounds down to a lake with a number of avenues lined with trees, each culminating in a focal point, this obelisk being one of them. The sundial tells the time to the minute and visitors enjoy working out how to read it.  For more information visit Fergus Wessel’s website.

Obelisk Sundial at Buscot Park

 

 

Close up of slate panel

Sundial faces

Great Oreo ad

Hurts your eyes if you stare at it for too long but clever recycling of an old optical illusion to promote the new version of Oreos by Interface Communications

Creating Hand Carved Headstones

I am a letter cutter, specialising in hand carved memorials, which are very different from the sandblasted, machine cut headstones that grace many British churchyards.

The process of creating a hand carved memorial is one that is never rushed.  Traditional methods using a chisel and mallet instead of machinery is making a comeback and more and more people are seeking unique personal headstones to commemorate their loved ones instead of sandblasted off the shelf designs.

slate headstone painted off white

Gilding a headstone; applying the gold size before the gold leaf

headstone with gilded sunken disc at the top

I have been carving headstones now for over ten years and when I began I did not envisage spending so much of my time making headstones; I thought it would be more prestigious to be making opening plaques and heraldry.  Although I still spend a lot of time on these other activities, they do not give me the personal contact with clients and the level of job satisfaction as making headstones.

The first step is to encourage the client to visit my workshop; here there are always lots of examples of work in progress, and samples of different stones.  The client may come with a good idea of what they want but more often they are open to ideas and hopefully gain inspiration by looking at my work and examples of stones I have already cut.

The first choice that needs to be made is the type of stone.  I always use British stones whenever possible; they blend in with the environment and suit the British climate.  The client may choose a dark stone such as Cumbrian blue/grey slate or green slate, or a lighter stone such as Portland limestone or Hopton Wood Limestone.  The stone choice will be partly dictated by the type of lettering and indeed  the size and amount of lettering that is wanted on the headstone; slate lends itself well to fine detailed lettering; Portland on the other hand needs strong bold lettering which will still be legible as the stone weathers in time.   I also encourage the client to look at the other stones in the area and a stone in keeping with the local stone often looks best.

Once the stone has been chosen, the client needs to think about the layout of the inscription and the type of lettering.  They may wish to have a poem on the back of the stone or an inscription in a circle for example; the options are endless.  Whenever a client is unsure I always say “less is more”, meaning that usually the simpler designs work best; too much lettering can often be lost.

There are also the options of a carving at the top or bottom of the stone for example.  Quite often a simple cross is chosen, but also a carving which means something to that person, for example a type of plant, or an animal.  Quite a popular motif is a gilded, sunken disc (see above), which has a peaceful feel to it.

Headstone with carving in sunken relief

The shape of the stone can be chosen to best incorporate the inscription or carving; sometimes a client wants a rounded edge which can be pleasant to touch.  Sometimes I might carve a bevel around the edge of the stone; this can help prevent it from chipping.

Sometimes the lettering may be painted or even gilded.   I tend to use a light wash of off white pain on my slate headstones which reflects the natural cut surface of the stone; if they are not painted the lettering can be hard to read when wet.

I always fix my stones straight into the ground whenever possible, with at least a third of the stone beneath the ground; this looks most natural and is preferable to a stone base.

For more examples of my hand carved headstones and my philosophy please visit my website.

Crossing the road will never be the same again!

Peugeot HYbrid4 Graphic Novel

 

 

Great use of scrolling and interesting adaptation of the graphic novel concept by BETC to describe the features of the Peugeot HYbrid4 here

Turn left at McDonalds…City Map

City Maps is an interesting take on map making, as detailed in this article on Fast Company, using Logos as landmarks / wayfinding and where available pulling in photos and tips from Foursquare.

Reminding us of this oldie but goldie from a while back…

Incredible stop motion video for Oren Lavie

Excellent Grammy Award nominated work by Yvuval & Merav Nathan of OneWingFly for Oren Lavie‘s first ever music video “Her Morning Elegance”

Stunning illustration by Buckinghamshire based Kimberley Pope

Came across the work of the wonderfully talented (and latest addition to our Creative Links section) Buckinghamshire illustrator Kimberley Pope today.

Kimberley is hugely versatile with a vast array of work featuring in children’s books, magazines and advertising, she also does concept art for film (including the much-anticipated – by me anyway – Game of Thrones, starting on Sky Atlantic this Monday) aswell as work for Kelly Hoppen illustrating her some of her interiors.

See more of her work here

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Hype Studios – Dunstable based interactive & graphic design agency

I’m very pleased to welcome the latest addition to the design category of our ‘creative links‘ section here at BeyondM25, in the form of Dunstable based interactive & graphic design agency ‘Hype Studio’.

They have the full service available with an array of cracking work on show in their portfolio from slick digital and web work to crisp print and identity, including some great flash work for Camelot’s national lottery.

This is a highlight of the very reason I started this collective up, to bring to light the huge amount of creative talent that exists beyond the boundary of the M25. I’m embarrassed to admit I literally drive past the front door of these guys every day on my journey into work and never even knew they were there.

If you, or know anyone who, work/s in the creative industries based ‘beyond the M25’ and would like to be added to this list then please do get in touch by emailing life@beyondm25.com