Tom has worked with stone since completing his fine art training back in the early 2000’s. Following his degree, interest moved from conceptual considerations surrounding art and the public realm to focus on method and traditional skills. Living in a Pennine town surrounded by valleys and moorland its no surprise that he became fascinated by drystone walling. After a few years of what we could loosely call an apprenticeship, Tom gained a reputation for attention to detail and eye for the rustic aesthetic. In tandem with walling work Tom was producing lettering pieces, mainly to go in his walls. The two practices complemented each other nicely and that’s how things continued for a number of years. Following a recurring back injury Tom reluctantly hung up his walling hammer in 2020 and settled into letter carving full time. During this transitional period Tom felt a pull in a new direction and began training as a counsellor. This led to him volunteering at mental health charities in Huddersfield and Halifax and after completing training he is now dividing his time between stone work and his psychotherapy private practice.
In his small workshop near Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, Tom’s signs are all hand carved with a mallet and chisel (not to be confused with the dubiously vague term ‘hand crafted’). Every letter is cut with care and attention, an approach that preserves an aesthetic quality lost by mechanisation. All letters are painted individually without the use of flood painting techniques ensuring beautifully crisp edges without bleeding. With the skills required to work in situ, where stones are already built into a structure, Tom carries out sympathetic restoration work, cleaning and repainting weathered signage.
Questions?
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