Four Week Stonecarving & Sculpture Course
“I never thought I could achieve such a creative and challenging piece with no previous experience - Thank you Portland Sculpture & Quarry Trust - I have realised my creative potential and been so inspired by the amazing surroundings of Portland and Tout”
Course Overview
Monday to Friday 9.30am to 5.30pm -
Courses are designed for beginners and all levels of skill
Our courses designed for beginners and all levels of skill run annually, and are now in their thirty-seventh year. Courses are held in the open-air, stone carving & sculpture workshop in the heart of Tout Quarry Sculpture Park & Nature Reserve and in the well equipped spacious Drill Hall Stone / Work / Space.Our Tutors are highly experienced in selecting freshly quarried stone for individual ideas, 3D sculpture, architectural forms, relief carving, letter cutting, stone masonry; and give one-to-one tuition in the development and completion of individual work.Working with freestone that can be carved in any direction informed by the pure quality of light throughout the day, reveals forms and surfaces that haven’t been exposed for 150 million years, creating a more powerful and visually informed work.Portland stone, the finest of carving stones, was once an ancient sea, formed from pure sunlight interacting with calcium carbonates in sea water.
Protective glasses are available for purchase.Note: Portland Sculpture & Quarry Trust (PSQT) reserves the right to change details of course dates, and course content.Fees Include; Professional tuition, use of hand carving tools and provision of freshly quarried stone either in Tout Quarry open air workshop (with all weather cover) or indoors in the Drill Hall Stone Workspace.
Please note: there is an additional cost for powered equipment re. Stone Saw, Air Tooling, Rotary Equipment / Polisher, Fork Lift Truck, Drills, Consumables, etc
Fees do not include; Travel, personal medical insurance, accomodation or food (self-catering accommodation is offered as an option by PSQT in connection with courses)
reduced rates are available for full time students at School, College or University and people with Unemployment Status at the time of the course taking place.
Courses run each summer in the open air carving & sculpture workshop in the heart of Tout Quarry Sculpture Park & Nature Reserve - outside of summer season courses run all year around in the well equipped Drill Hall Stone/Work/Space
*Note: Portland Sculpture & Quarry Trust (PSQT) reserves the right to change details of course dates, daily times of courses, course fees, course content, evening arrangements & location at Tout Quarry Sculpture Park & Nature Reserve (open air workshop with weather cover) or Stone/Work/Space at the Drill Hall (indoor carving studio with outdoor carving area)
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Demonstration of tools and stone carving techniques.
Selection of freshly quarried stone for individual work.
Lifting, moving and handling stone.
Starting points for carving with individual tuition
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One to one tuition in learning skills and techniques from roughing out to fine detail for low relief and 3D carving.
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Finishing techniques.
Individual discussion on work achieved, pointers for the future.
Photographing work and loading into vehicles with supervision
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Thursday Evenings (optional)
Eating out overlooking the sea and sunset - The Cove House Inn, The Crab House or BBQ at the Beech Hut at Church Ope Cove
Book A Four Week Course Below
Our Tutors & Team
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Hannah Sofaer
Hannah Sofaer studied at Goldsmiths College, Chelsea College of Art & Design before her Masters in Fine Art and Sculpture at the Royal College of Art. One of the first of 50 artists to make work during the first sculpture symposium in Tout Quarries and helped to save the quarry from further mineral extraction. She set up the stone carving courses in Tout Quarry. She is a visiting Tutor in Art Colleges / Universities and has shown work in galleries, other sculpture parks as well as one off projects such as Art By Pass. She has been commissioned to create work / public art in UK, Singapore, Northern Spain. Hannah is skilled in the selection of stone for individual ideas and has extensive knowledge of direct carving and stone carving techniques (drawing directly with tools), helping students to achieve a high standard of work. Hannah was admitted to the Freedom of the Worshipful Company of Masons in 2016.
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Paul Crabtree
Paul Crabtree studied at Bradford Regional College of Art and Fine Art Sculpture at the Central School of Art & Design. Paul trained as a stone conservator at the British Museum where he worked with limestone and low relief carvings from the Egyptian Department and including block figures from the Duke of Northumberland’s collection. Paul has a MA in Art and Design and Education from University of London Institute of Education and also holds a Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Applied Architectural Stone Work from Weymouth College. Paul was admitted to the Freedom of the Worshipful Company of Masons in 2016.
