The first thing you should know about me is that I love stone! I've always been fascinated by a process by which mere stone from out of the ground could be worked into all sorts of fantastic forms to produce the amazing structures and buildings found throughout our world.

I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to study the ancient art of 'Banker Masonry' at the famed college in the wonderful Georgian City of Bath, England. As anyone who has visited Bath can testify it really is a most beautiful city and a prime example of the stone carver's art.

In the time-honored tradition, the first task for every student is to render a rough block (read: boulder) into a perfect cube using the most basic of hand tools. Once this arduous task was behind us we commenced to learn the traditional skills of the banker mason.

Though the course was very demanding it taught me the irrefutable truths of a trade that can be traced back throughout human civilization; precision is of paramount importance - accuracy can never be compromised, and consistency is the benchmark of a good mason.

Once in the "Real World" however, working within the local industry, things moved to a different beat, faster with more electronic kit. Angle grinders, spinner pads, flush cutters and pneumatic chisels being the order of the day. Different means but the principles remain the same - a steadfast devotion to accuracy and consistency.

Not that hand tools have disappeared completely, far from it - a vast array of specialist and largely imported chisels, mallets, rasps, French drags etc., play an invaluable role in my work to this day. The main difference being that with the advent of these, 'labor saving devices' I am able to produce by myself in a week what a slew of Banker Masons of yesteryear would turn out in a month.