Lucky Lincoln WI member Nina won the inaugural Denman bursay and chose to go on a stone carving course. Here she tells us of her experience, and share some great photos:
Well, what a lovely weekend. Lots of tasty food, tea and cake – the best short bread biscuits I’ve ever tasted! All the other ladies were very friendly and I met several who were also bursary winners. Our bedroom was big enough to fit at least two more beds in! The hard work began straight after dinner on Friday night and we all had to make a clay model of our chosen object to the correct size, which had to fit the piece of stone (Maltese limestone).
The next morning, after a hearty fry up, we had to mark up the stone and make templates, saw off corners before having a driving test at how to chisel safety lines. Then it was time to start shaping my shell. By dinner time, my arms were so tired I didn’t think I’d be able to lift my knife and fork, but back to the work shop again and worked til 10pm.
Next morning was rasping to create curves and then sanding with different grades of paper to get it super smooth. Everyone who passed by wanted to stroke it. At tea break, we all went to look at what the other course had produced – there were silk painted scarfs, beaded jewellery and patch work pictures.
Then we were treated to a performance by the ukulele group and had a good old sing song! After another enormous lunch (including pineapple upside down cake with custard), it was time to say goodbye.
The Lincoln WI 