MEET THE MAKER

Jo Sweeting’s hand-carved creations

Captivated by tactile objects that can be held in one’s hand, Jo draws upon the Tibetan notion of ‘Shul’ (a mark le on the landscape) when chiselling into local stone to create her works

What’s your background? My work has always moved between art and cra !. I completed a Fine Art degree, where I mostly worked in clay, and I was shortlisted to train at the Royal Academy a !er that. But, a !er "ve years of training, I decided that wasn’t what I wanted to do. In between teaching and having children, I met John Skelton, Eric Gill’s nephew. I started learning from him and going along to evening classes run by his daughter, Helen Mary Skelton, where I began carving "gures and le#ers into stone.

Can you tell us about the pieces you make?

I hand carve "gures, le#ers and words into pebbles or British stone bought from local quarries. When you’re modelling with clay you’re building up, which is how most human beings work. But with carving you’re actually reducing and taking away. Although I still do "gurative work, my love for words and writing means that le#er carving has also become central to what I do. As human beings we like to hold things and touch them so, although I have made larger pieces, most of my sculptures are small. For example, at the moment I’m making small empty bird’s nests inspired by themes of reduction and decline.

What inspires you?

I have a thread of ideas that have travelled with me my whole life, which I think is very common for artists and writers. There’s an ancient Tibetan word – Shul – which means the trace of something that has travelled through the

landscape, such as a dry riverbed, footprints in grass or the space where an animal has curled up and le! its mark. That is a constant theme in my work. I’m also quite an anxious person and part of my process in carving every day is "nding sanctuary – it’s quite meditative. I jokingly call myself ‘ Three-mile radius girl’ as I haven’t le! the British Isles in 25 years. But I o!en "nd inspiration walking the Sussex coastline with my dogs, or swimming in the local rivers. By remaining in similar places you "nd a sense of belonging. It’s quite extraordinary how rich life can be without travelling far.

Talk us through your process

I do everything by hand using chisels and mallets. Whereas stonemasons tend to trace a design onto the stone and cut away exact pieces, I like to write an idea down in my notebook and then do a very rough drawing directly onto the stone itself. I work freely, but I always know what I’m carving, and there’s a plan, even if it isn’t perfected. It’s a slow process, but it gives me time to think and feel my way through as I’m working.

Describe your home workshop

My husband and I built the workshop together with the help of our friends. The wood cost about £500, and it has old bathroom windows at either end. We painted the outside black and it looks like a li#le chapel. The walls are covered in postcards, drawings and le#ering – it’s a lovely place to be.

You can see more of Jo’s carved stones and sculptures at josweetingsculpture.com or @thestonecarver

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP The studio was built for Jo’s husband, a framer, but Jo took it over as her work developed; Portland stone carvings called Family Trees; letters on pebbles; a carved stone bowl; riffler tools with small teeth to smooth down stone.

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT A head carved from Polyphant stone; postcards adorn the walls of Jo’s studio; large reclaimed windows frame the studio, which is filled with local stone and inspiring mementos; clad in black wooden panels, Jo describes her studio as looking ‘like a little chapel’.

BELOW An ‘empty nest’ carved with the word ‘Nightingale’.