Cupped and other carved stones

 

Over the last week I have completed three projects: some cupped stones for friends; a cupped stone for installation at our front door; and replacing the Armadale stone cottage in the Stone Cottages artwork that was exhibited in my Betrayal and Loss exhibition SNM 2023.

Cup carvings in stones is an ancient form of decoration-art and was used by the Picts in the Highlands. Nobody really knows the meaning or purpose of creating the cups; but to me it is a conscious act by folk many years ago. Carving these stones seems to me to be a way of making a connection with artisans of the past.

Three of the four finished stones for friends I carved cup marks into can be seen in the opening photo; and the original stones and the fourth stone can be seen below.

During earlier visits I had carved two stones for our front door wee stone installation - I managed to carve a third stone (pink) to make up a trio - see photo below.

The original Armadale Cove stone cottage that was part of the Stone Cottages artwork made its way to our deck in Maleny. I wanted to recreate the set by carving another cottage out of an Armadale Cove stone. As you can see below this has been done; and the installation of 5 is set in a gravelled corner out the back of the cottage. The cottage photo was taken in the rough before finessing it.

I am pleased to say I have achieved my stone carving goals for this trip.