The Workshop

This two-day workshop is designed for beginners who want to develop their skills in stone carving.

You’ll have the option to carve a prepared ammonite or leaf design, try your hand at letter cutting, or work on your own small project - depending on the time and materials available.

Using traditional hand tools, you'll learn how to mark out, rough out, and finish a design in Bath stone. By the end of the course, you’ll have a beautifully finished piece to take home.

The workshop also covers where to source different stones and tools, how to sharpen chisels and key health and safety considerations when working with stone.

The Artist

Will Spankie studied Modern History at university before training as a sculptor at the Sir John Cass School of Art and Central St. Martin's College of Art. He was taught lettering by John Skelton and Mike Leman.

His work is often influenced by organic forms and the environment. He is interested in the geometric structures, patterns, symmetry and proportion to be found both in nature and the unfolding of numbers in space. He works mainly in stone and wood “because they are durable, lovely to carve and have their own innate beauty”. Will also carves house signs, commemorative plaques and memorials.

As well as working to commission and making work for exhibitions, Will teaches stone carving, sometimes in schools, pupil referral units and prisons. He also teaches letter cutting and is a Friend of The Edward Johnston Foundation, dedicated to maintaining the art of calligraphy and lettering.