Stone Carving & Sculpture Courses

Carving Stone in its Place of Origin

Our courses have a good reputation and following as ‘the place’  to learn and carve freshly quarried Portland Stone, in the open air workshop at the heart of Tout Quarry Sculpture Park and Nature Reserve.  Tout means ‘Lookout’ and the Quarry is hewn into the high clifftop overlooking the great Chesil Beach.  It is a naturally regenerated and historical environment ‘built by the skills, intuition and hard team work of the quarrymen’,  an inspirational landscape to work in, with the balance of elements, of sea, sky and stone. Portland Stone is the finest of carving stones, soft enough to carve with very fine detail and yet extremely durable – and being almost pure calcium carbonate is good for health and very safe to work with.  Stone carving courses also take place in the newly refurbished Stone Workspace at the Drill Hall.

Our courses are affordable and provide the very best of professional tuition, and designed for beginners and all levels of skill.  Images below show work from one week stone carving and sculpture courses.

 

 

What does the course include?

  • Introduction to the sculpture, geology, family working histories and ecology  of Tout Quarry with its rare grasses, butterflies and orchids
  • Demonstration of stone carving techniques – use of hand carving tools for sculpture, masonry, architectural carving, letter cutting
  • Selection of freshly quarried stone for individual ideas,  Lifting, moving and handling stone. Starting points for carving, individual tuition
  • Developing carving skills from roughing out techniques to fine detail as the week progresses.
  • Detailed carving and surface finishing techniques for Portland stone.
  • Informal discussion on work achieved – pointers for the future.
  • Tuition Monday to Friday 9.30 am to 5 pm (although times may vary if people want to work late)
  • Work photographed and loaded into vehicles on Friday.
  • Evenings (optional)
    • PSQT ‘Drill Hall Gallery and Stone Workspace with refreshment area –  Cold Buffet, Coffee /Tea, Books, Wifi
    • Eating out Tuesday – Local Fish,Oysters,Crab, also Vegetarian
    • BBQ at Beach Hut – Thursday

Note: Indoor courses at the Stone Workspace also run throughout the year – well equipped with hydraulic carving bankers, lifting equipment, stone saw, with instruction in hand tools and use of electric / pneumatic tools. There is an additional cost for the use of lifting and powered equipment.

What to bring?

Some preparation is always good if you want to bring a sketchbook with ideas, photographs or a clay model. Pencils or charcoal are useful to help visualize the form by drawing directly on the stone. Strong footwear (steel toe-capped boots are recommended), working clothes, sunglasses, hat, safety glasses and personal carving tools if you have them. There is a low cost open market that comes to Portland every Tuesday if you need to buy anything, just next to the Quarry and the Heights Hotel where you can have coffee. Safety glasses can be purchased from the Trust.

On Monday we issue a toolbox with set of 5 carving tools and two hammers to use during your workshop. The tools are booked back in at the end of the workshop (tool losses are paid for at current cost of replacement).

On Friday we help you to load your finished sculpture into your car to take home.  Portland stone is very dense: 1 cubic foot weighs 140 pounds – 10 stone /70 kilos.

Or Contact Us for further details.

Opening of Community Stone Work Space – 20th June 2013

Community Stone Workspace at the Drill Hall is a newly refurbished and well equipped stone carving workspace, exhibition and refreshments area. The opening will include talks by Prof Denys Brunsden (World Heritage Coast) and Julian Smallshaw (Institute of Quarrying - Training and Education) and performance of 'Walk Through Time' by 60 students of the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy. If interested in attending the opening please use contact us page.

Phil from Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust carving an intricate design – to be exhibited at opening of Community Stone Work Space

Portland Sculptue & Quarry Trust fine letter-cutting, sculpture, relief carving from Tout Quarry Stone Carving Courses and new Stone Workspace at the Drill Hall; outcomes from design projects with Univeristy Architecture Depts. of Brighton, Greenwich, Bournemouth. Designing with stone - materials based practical skills summer for architects. Community Stone Workspace is part financed by European Agricultural Fund for European Development 2007-2013: Europe investing rural areas, through Chalk & Cheese LAG programme managed through DEFRA.