Ian Newton

IAN NEWTON

Ian has worked with stone for 30 years in many different ways; from drystone dyking to restoration carving for Westminster Abbey and Wells Cathedral. He’s built stone houses and barns and carved figurative and abstract sculptures.

He carved his first gravestone in 1986 for the three year old daughter of a close friend. In 1987 his wife died of breast cancer. “I made a sculpture to commemorate her life and I also carved her gravestone. From these experiences I realized how important a gravestone could be; as a way of honouring a life and as a marker in the process of grieving and letting go. My intention when making a gravestone is to be with my clients in such a way that together we create a fitting memorial for their loved one.”

Ian has been involved with Memorials By Artists since 1993. They work as a commissioning agency, putting people in touch with artist lettercutters. Between 1999 and 2001 a group of Scottish lettercutters met through workshops run by Memorials By Artists. From these meetings they formed the Scottish Lettercutters Association of which Ian is the Chair. The SLA holds group exhibitions and promotes traditional lettercutting skills and educational programmes.

“My work as an artist using lettercutting when involved with private commissions or public art is to celebrate as best I can the love of stone, the love of words,and the place of the work. I derive enormous pleasure from the process of creation and expression of these pieces.”

Ian Newton’s website