Stephen is available, by appointment, for private craft tuition and guided tours of his studios at Woodchester Mansion near Stroud in Gloucestershire. One-to-one tuition is especially suitable for craft practitioners with prior experience, either industry professionals looking for specialist tuition in specific skills (e.g. stonemasons looking to further their skills in marble carving or polishing) or sculptors seeking technical advice and guidance in precision stone-working techniques. Below are selected testimonials from students who have experienced private tuition with Stephen:

“This environment has encouraged me to learn, not through necessity or duty, but through inspiration, passion and curiosity.  Training has instilled in me a commitment to realising my own highest potential in my work. I feel a sense of connection with the past through the unbroken traditions Stephen upholds and a profound sense of purpose, belonging and community amongst fellow craftspeople.”

 – Frances Elston, BA,MSc.

“This experience has helped me immensely to advance my research into medieval sculpture. My work focuses on the impact of materials and working methods on the aesthetic, form, and language of the body in stone architecture, mainly of the Romanesque period. Learning about the practicalities of carving, the relationship between the carver and the material, and the attitudes of craftspeople towards their work is helping me to better understand the sculpture from a period that left us little evidence beside the artworks themselves.”

-Dr. Agata Gomółka

Editor, Events Coordinator, The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland (CRSBI)

Doctoral Graduand, Associate Tutor, Department of Art History and World Art Studies, University of East Anglia.