Every stone has already had a life. I give it another one.

Meet Paul

I’m Paul and I’ve spent most of my working life outdoors – designing and building gardens for private clients. But increasingly, it was the individual features within those gardens that captured my imagination – stone walls, fireplaces, water features and unusual focal points. Pieces that needed to look right, work technically and sit naturally in their surroundings.

Eventually, that fascination took me somewhere unexpected - into sculpture.

It started with an idea and some leftover stone

A visit to Lake Como got me thinking. Exploring the gardens of the grand Italian villas, I was struck by the grotto-style water features and the creative possibilities of stone. Back home, a customer was looking for a focal point for their garden. I had some reclaimed cobbles and pieces of sandstone left over from other projects and, looking at their shapes and textures, I began to see an acorn.

Then came the question: could I actually build one?

I started experimenting with how the stones could be shaped and interlocked, refining the technique as the sculpture began to take form. The customer followed its progress with growing excitement, watching a collection of individual stones become something quite extraordinary.

And, stone by stone, the first monumental acorn came to life.

I've always been drawn to natural stone – its strength, its texture, its subtle variations in colour and the simple pleasure of handling and working with it.

But reclaimed stone has something more. It has history.

Some of the cobbles I work with carry the wear of more than 200 years. They may once have formed part of a road, wall or path, and I like the fact that you can still see the signs of that previous life.

Rather than hiding those marks and irregularities, I make them part of the finished piece. Every mark, variation and imperfection becomes part of its character.

What matters to me

The way I work is just as important to me as the things I create.

Quality craftsmanship

Look closely and you begin to see how much goes into every piece. I build by hand, carefully selecting and positioning individual pieces of stone to create the right shape, texture and character.

It’s a process that takes time, judgement and a real understanding of the material. I’ve spent years learning how different stones behave and how to work with their natural variations rather than against them.

The details matter, because they’re what make the finished piece special.

Reclaimed by nature

Wherever possible, I work with reclaimed stone – material that has already had a life before it reaches me. Old cobbles, sandstone and other time-worn pieces bring their own colours, textures, marks and history to the work.

Reusing existing stone gives these materials a completely new purpose while reducing the need for newly quarried stone.

I like knowing that something with a past can be carefully reworked into something that will be enjoyed for many more years.

A personal approach

I invite my customers to be part of the whole process – from developing the idea and shaping the design with me, to choosing the stone and watching their piece gradually take form.

There’s a moment when a collection of individual stones suddenly starts to become the sculpture, fireplace or feature I imagined. That’s still one of my favourite parts of the process – seeing the excitement when my customer recognises it too, and an idea we’ve talked about becomes something real.