an original tie

I have finally finished the slate engraving started in November 2019.
It has a hole on the back that allows you to hang it on the wall or, if you prefer, to insert a fixation that will allow you to wear it proudly as a tie :-)

the engraving has been filled with acrylic paint and rust before being varnished.

Slate in progress

From time to time, it is necessary to free yourself from paper to work on other media.
So I take back my faithful butter knife and start the engraving of a small slate.
It's only the first step but I already love it.

Breton apple tree

In order to make stamps to stamp cookies for a baker friend, I took a branch of an old apple tree out of my garden, carefully dried for a few years.
She wanted a triskell & an ermine, the branches having two ends, I engraved the patterns on the same piece of wood.

and just so that you have an idea of the size of the patterns (4cm in diameter) and the depth of the engraving (1cm), a small bias photo

The bad news is that my dremmel (which would have allowed me to do this in 1 hour) is seized and so I did everything with manual gouges.
The good news is that I only cut myself twice, I'm making a lot of progress in wood engraving: -D

Capri, it's over!!!!!

And to think that it was the city of my first love!!!!!!!!

Yes, well, sorry, I'm getting ahead of New Year's Eve or I'm late for Christmas, it looks like I'm drunk and not even 11:00 in the morning, it's not serious.

So I get it together, I try to stay decent for a few minutes but you will admit that putting the finishing touches to a composition started more than a year ago is enough to make you happy, even if it is expressed in the form of a song by Hervé Vilard... (hopefully, if you read my blog in english you may not know about this song, it seems that an english version with quite different lyrics exists)

Here, the rust has embedded itself, the varnish is applied, I love it (unlike my wife who finds it very ugly, we can't agree all the time).

As a reminder, the slate piece is about 30cm high

Guillevic

I have read again for the umpteenth time the collection Du domaine by Guillevic.
I find new inspiration with each reading.

A slate engraving, filled with rust & wax for a poem about time
(home made translation : Here the time, believes itslef innocent)

and a poem on rain (and time), engraved on a terracotta pot, which I have already posted in video but of which I give you a still image (I recommend the video, the problem of the pots being their roundness which prevents us to cover their entire circumference at a glance).

smartphone

I succumbed to the bewitching sirens of technology and, not being satisfied with the existing offer, I decided to design a new smartphone myself.
First of its generation, the pineapple 1.0 has incredible features, the most important being the... paperweight!!!!!!!

Engraving on slate & rust filling for the logo.

If you also want to be at the cutting edge of science, don't hesitate to contact me, I can provide you with a specimen of pineapple 1.0 while waiting for version 2 which will benefit from even more amazing features at a price that defies all reason!

Don't wait any longer!!!

spinach

I continue in vegetables.
This time, spinach!
And for a change, I carved my slate by piercing it through and through.

Turnips

August is already well underway, it is more than time to sow turnips.
But it is necessary to be able to indicate them in the garden thus, as usual, small sign engraved on slate.

This time, to change a bit, I used a gothic and it's the turn of the letters I engraved.

And yes, some pieces are missing, I'm aware, it's even done on purpose ;-)

works in progress

I regularly complain that I don't have time during the year to work on my calligraphies... It's even worse during the holidays!
I'm nonetheless share a few "in progress" things with you :

To begin, I continue on my stained glass on slate (which I have already had the opportunity to talk about here for example).

I arrive at the end (more than ten hours of work to foresee) of the engraving of the filigrees, it will be time then to pass to the following stage, rust!

Otherwise, I work on several large letters & monograms, I show you here the preparatory works of the first monogram :

maybe more pictures next week if the work in the garden lets me move on my calligraphies:-)

knotwork

Not much time for calligraphy at the moment.
Just a little knotwork carved on a slate block.

The block is about 10 cm side, the pattern is taken from George Bain's book.

Water, Fire, Earth, Air

I continue to tidy my workshop up and I found one of my first engravings on slate with a little watercolour to highlight the various elements.

It was a few years ago and, at the time, I didn't like it.
I don't think it's so bad after all, what do you think?

Knotwork

While cleaning (once is not usual) my workshop, I fell on some slates of the Monts d'Arrée, full of rust. And as I had a little time, I took the smallest of them to try an engraving and I chose a knotwork pattern from the book of Kells.

The top layer of the slate has left in places, removing the rust color on fragments of the pattern but I'm not too dissatisfied with the result.

Your are still here

This weekend, we celebrated a friend's birthday. For the occasion, I engraved a small zinc brooch reminding her of her year of birth.

And also some slate triangles to put in her garden.

And as I offered her the engraving of "you are here", I made another one for my garden.

For those who would still wonder how it is done, here is a little video where I am engraving the slate with my homemade tools

You are here

It is important to know where you are and to identify what is around you.
So I continue to engrave slate triangles that I place in my garden for crowd edification.

Chards that don't seem to want to go out...

Salads that are difficult to confuse with an elephant but you never know...

A sign to know where you are...

And another sign, to know where everything else is. It is written in Breton and means "all directions".

Slate is not bad either

Yeah, because granite's still hard. And when the slabs are already in place, it means making his engraving on his knees which is quickly painful.
So I resumed the slate engraving started last fall and abandoned because of cold.
The pattern is finished, all that remains is to dress it with filigrees. A few more hours of work ahead!

Granite is fantastic

It was nice last weekend so I couldn't stay scribbling in my workshop, I had to enjoy the garden a bit.
And I undertook to decorate the alley with various motifs, directly engraved in the slabs.

Starting at the end

and then trying a basic knotwork pattern

it's still quite long to do, granite is not easily incised, I will think about new patterns for next weekend if the weather continues.

Blue

Sorry to have left you without news lately, I was in Belgium to give some courses, the proof in pictures :

already tired

photo bombing (no reason for only others to have fun)

And, did you know, the Namur region produces magnificent blue stones, much used in construction. My hosts (thanks again Geneviève & Eugène!) had some in their backyard that they let me bring back with me.

First engraving try, it's not that yet but it's encouraging

to be followed...

Mind moves matter (second)

I know, I already told you... but this time it really moves ;-)

Mind moves matter

It is Virgil who says it in the Aeneid and, of course, he says it in Latin: Mens agitat molem

And so, my mind, without really moving matter, transforms it.

It is a shale pebble, hand engraved with my faithful butter knife and a nail for the filigree pattern. And to give you an idea of the size, one last picture of the work when it was in progress and I was holding the pebble in my hand.

more lettering

Inspired by my current work, I decline the lettering on other supports and to begin with, shale pebbles.

As usual on this support, my faithful butter knife was used for the engraving.

The pebbles are about 5cm long.