A Lineage Forged in Picardy: From Amiens to the Atelier

A Lineage Forged in Picardy

In the late 1980s, my journey as a carver was anchored in the soil of the Somme and the historic regions of Picardy. To work on Amiens Cathedral is to be humbled; it is the largest Gothic structure in France, a vessel of “lacy stone” where I spent my days in the company of ghosts—the master masons of the 13th century.

My hands became familiar with the distinct demands of the region’s heritage: the towering ambition of Amiens, the flamboyant intricacies of the Collegiate Church of Saint-Vulfran in Abbeville, and the quiet, steadfast presence of Aumale and Notre-Dame du Cardonnoy.

The Geometry of the Divine

It was at Amiens where the “frozen music” of architecture became my silent teacher. Observing the three great rose windows, I learned that beauty is a product of rigorous, hidden logic:

The West Rose: Taught me the stability of ad quadratum—the harmony of the square within the circle.
The North Rose: Introduced me to the complexity of five-fold symmetry, a shift in geometry that allows for a more radiant, “Rayonnant” light.
The South Rose: With its “S-curves” and flamboyant mouchette motifs, it revealed how stone could be made to flow like liquid or flame through curvilinear precision.

How the Cathedral Informed the Classroom

Today, as I lead workshops through Court Master Carving, I realize that those years in France provided more than technical skill. They provided the foundation for what I call the “Senses of the Soul.” When I teach, I do not simply speak of mallets and chisels. I speak of Harmonic Proportion—the Golden Ratio I first traced in the tracery of Saint-Vulfran. I teach Proprioception and Kinaesthesia, helping my students find that “internal GPS” that guides a tool with surgical precision, a sense I perfected while suspended against the weathered facades of the Somme.

The discipline of restoration taught me that we are part of a living lineage. My retreats are designed to take students “beyond the velvet rope,” offering them the same connection to heritage and inner harmony that the stone gave to me decades ago. Whether we are in a studio in London or a retreat in the countryside, the echoes of Picardy are present in every strike of the hammer.

Lessons from the Craft

Restoration is a dialogue. In the eighties, I learned to listen to the stone’s “stubborn resistance” and its “subtle give.” Today, I pass that listening on to those seeking mental clarity and spiritual exploration. We do not just carve stone; we carve a path to sustainable well-being, rooted in a craft that has survived centuries.

In September 2018, I had the pleasure of collaborating with Sam Fogg for their landmark ‘Stone Heads’ exhibition.

The Master’s Lineage: A Journey Through Stone, Wood, and Time

The Grit Behind the Lineage: Lessons from Syria

The Legacy of the Master Builder: From Knightsbridge to the Côte d’Azur

The Permanent Record: One Patron, Seven Hundred Miles of Stone

Structural Legacy: From the British Museum Great Court to the 1080 Protocol

The Gold Thread: A Discovery in a Drawer

The Itinerant Path: From Picardy’s Spires to the Soul of Stone

A Year in the Shadow of Greatness: My Tenure at Woburn Abbey

The Alchemical Stone: Lessons from a Practitioner of the Renaissance

The Start of My Philosophical JourneyThe Music of the Spheres: A Journey Through London’s Stone

The Master’s Ledger: Blood, Stone, and the Xhosa Training