GILLIAN FORBES STONECARVER

The Workshop, Pathgreen Cottage, Path of Condie, Forgandenny, Perthshire PH2 9DW. Tel/Fax: 01577 830754

 
ABOUT ME

My passion for stone started at Glasgow School of Art after researching eighteenth century Scottish headstones. As a consequence, I became an apprentice memorial mason with Matt Bruce of Scott & Rae Monumental Masons in Glasgow. I then continued my education at Weymouth College in Dorset where I developed the techniques of shaping and building with stone. The inspiration for my carving is drawn mostly from the natural world, and it this interest in plant and animal forms which led me to establish my business in rural Perthshire in 1995.

The preservation and promotion of hand carving skills in Scotland is fundamental to my practice. I am constantly seeking to learn more and to improve and develop my carving and drawing skills by undertaking courses with eminent professionals in the world of stone. Through my long-standing association with Memorials by Artists, I became a founding member of the Scottish Lettercutters Association in 2001. In 2005 I was awarded a QEST Scholarship to study under Marc Chevalier-Lacombe near Orleans, France.

In 2008 I won the J D Fergusson Arts Award Trust Travel Award which enabled me to realise my ambition to travel to Carrara, Italy to learn marble carving. I also teach, running courses for the public and training young stone carvers and lettercutters.   

QUALIFICATIONS AND AWARDS

1984-88 Glasgow School of Art
BA(Hons) Ceramics

1992-94 Weymouth College, Dorset.
Stonemasonry, Architectural Carving & Lettercutting

1997 Scottish Arts Council Craft Start-Up Award
2001 Founding Member of the Scottish Lettercutters
        Association
2002 The Inches Carr Trust Crafts Bursary
2005 Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust Award
2008 J D Fergusson Arts Award Trust Travel Award