The Architectural Stone Carving Workshop this year will be taught by master stonecarver Nicholas Fairplay.

Nick is an architectural sculptor who specializes in hand carved stone and marble ornament. The theme of the workshop will be "Flora and Fauna" and will focus on hand tools with demonstrations in carving with air tools.

Nick's expertise is in the design and fabrication of museum quality sculpture in classical styles. As a European artisan and master carver with 31 years of carving experience, Nick's design and execution of period styles is unparalleled. Some of his past projects included key elements of Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral, Yorkminster Cathedral, Wells Cathedral, numerous Abbeys and Parish Churches, the Houses of Parliament, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, St. James' Palace, Kensington Palace, Palace of Westminster, various stately homes throughout England and private residences and public buildings in the United States. His work ranges from statues, fireplaces and gargoyles to architraves, columns and capitals.

Nick Fairplay is the President and Master Artisan of Fairplay Stonecarvers, L.L.C. Nick apprenticed, at the age of 16, as a stone carver at Chichester Cathedral in England. He worked on the reproduction of carvings for medieval and classical buildings. At the age of 22, he went to the City and Guilds of London Art College and studied life modeling and drawing. After receiving his degree, he won the Beckwith Travel Scholarship for drawing and studied Renaissance and Baroque Architecture and Sculpture in Rome, Italy.

As head carver, Nick instructed students and carvers while working for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Cathedral Stoneworks at Carnegie Mellon University and Agrell and Thorpe, Ltd. In 1995, Nick was elected to become a member of the Association of Master Carvers in England. He is also a professional member of the Stone Carvers Guild in the United States.

As a result of Nick's extensive knowledge of stone carving he was a consultant on stone monuments, tools and methods of ancient Egyptian pyramid builders for The University of Chicago Research team and for the filming of the NOVA Documentary on Pharaonic Pyramid Construction for PBS.

Fairplay Stonecarvers was formed in San Francisco, California in 1997. They relocated to Northern Ohio in the spring of 1998.

Nick was the subject of a documentary, recently completed by Jeremy Newman (Director & Editor) called "Nicholas Fairplay: Stone Carver". The documentary "interweaves an English Master Stone Carver's creation of a seven-foot marble Venus with his thoughts on the ancient craft and his personal story." (excerpt from "Thoughts on a Recently Completed Art Documentary" by Jeremy Newman)

The information above is copied from Nick's website. Visit it for more information and photos of his work: http://www.fairplaystonecarvers.com/

The Workshop venue will again be Art City Studios, a local collective of stone artists and artisans and a resource for sculptural stone.ective of stone artists and artisans and a resource for sculptural stone.

To register, click here