Katherine is a London-based award winning architectural and figurative stone carver/sculptor, letter carver and mason. Her 18 years of carving have led her to work on many prestigious restoration projects on buildings and figurative monuments. She also carves commemorative plaques and installs new church furnishings such as altars. She was elected a member of the Art Workers Guild in 2007.
As a stone carver by trade Katherine would describe herself as a more traditional stone carver/sculptor with a modern edge. Her traditional figurative stone carvings in London have led her to carve a new hand and arm for King George II monument, Golden Square, Soho. She did extensive carving repairs to the marble statues at the Albert Memorial, Royal Kensington Parks, she was also appointed head carver for this work. She has carved portrait heads and a medieval Bishop’s head at Westminster Abbey’s Chapter House. She has carved large heraldic beasts such a lion and unicorn on Leicester Square’s London Hippodrome and a shield and crown held up by two griffins at Darnley Mausoleum, Cobham Woods, Kent.
Although this figurative work is largely copying, in essence she is still sculpting in stone. It always requires a model to be made and it is these modelling and carving skills that have contributed to Katherine’s art work. She enjoys producing her own sculptures in a modern style, free from the limits imposed on her at work. In her sculptures she is very good at creating depth and shadow as she is used to her work needing to stand out from up high on a building.
Katherine’s alabaster carvings are liberating, alabaster is very soft compared to stones used on a building and she is able to carve it very quickly. She carves figurative pieces (fun and sometimes sensual), abstract shapes and flora and fauna. Alabaster is translucent and can be polished like marble. This polishing in white alabaster produces a glacial effect and in contrast to this she bruises and attacks the stone with her chisels and angle grinder creating a frosted or shattered glass effect.
Katherine has carved inscriptions commemorating events, newly appointed Lord Mayors and important historic people such as Ignatius Sancho, the first black Briton to receive the vote; this was unveiled at Greenwich Park. During her 2 year apprenticeship in architectural carving at York Minster she was appointed to carve a plaque commemorating the new carvings at The Great West Door, unveiled by HRH Duke of York.
Her letter carving influences her ‘Wall Art in Stone’. Her Wall Art, impressionistic or realistic is carved on a stone slab and is hung from the wall. As with letter carving the Wall Art design is transferred on to the stone and carved in an incised fashion. She loves creating her Wall Art as it is her version of drawing but on to stone. She carves close up detail particularly of foliage, using her 3 dimensional perception to create and enhance an illusion of depth. In contrast to her large bold stone carvings she is able to be extremely delicate with her Wall Art as it is almost like etching. Her Wall Art in stone has also developed from her bespoke gravestone commissions as people often want a carving with the inscription.
Katherine’s speciality in the architectural carving of decorative leaves and foliage heavily influences her work and can be seen throughout. She has carved stone capitals embellished with decorative leaves on St Paul’s Cathedral, London Hyde Park’s Wellington Arch and Apsley House, Stowe School and Birmingham Town Hall.
Katherine has another form of Wall Art which she is passionate about. She produces woodland nature scenes in a relief sculpture. This is her version of a painting but in exciting 3-D, people have commented on her work as magical and like stepping into a painting. The sculptures are mostly in plaster but can be made in a variety of materials such as resin, stone composite and marble dust. She enjoys experimenting with different finishes and effects.
Katherine contributed to a Public Art Time Piece, designed by Marianne Forrest, by carving letters in Welsh and English on a circular stone bench. She was also commissioned to carve two sculptures by Atoi artists and Anarch Gallery which was exhibited at Tate Britain, Six Shooter Art Fair.
Her accomplishments have led her teach stone carving at The Heatherley School of Fine Art, Chelsea
Solo exhibition
2011 - Sacred Space Gallery, St John’s Notting Hill, London
Group exhibitions
2015 - Bankside Gallery (Heatherley’s School of Fine Art 170th anniversary), London, SE1
2012 - Adonis Art Gallery, Earls Court, London
2012 - Landmark Autumn Art Fair, Teddington
2012 - Tate Britain (Six Shooter Art Fair)
2011 - Bankside Gallery (Mock 1), London, SE1
Awards
2010 - First prize - Morley College Sculpture Society Portrait Head Competition- Judged by Janet Browne from the V&A, Etienne Millner, the President of the Society of Portrait Sculptors, Julie Lomax, Head of Visual Arts at the Arts Council and Stephen Duncan, Sculptor and Morley College tutor.
2009 - Part of the reordering of SS Peter & Paul, Wolverhampton - altar suite (marble) Ecclesiastical Architects & Surveyors Association Presidents Award
2011 Georgian Group Awards – runner up (in the church category)
1997 - First prize - College Boss stone carving competition
1996 - Finalist - College Boss stone carving competition
Affiliations
Member of Art Workers Guild elected in 2007, proposed by the renowned stone carver Dick Reid OBE and former master of the Art Workers Guild. She was seconded by Assheton Gorton who was an English production designer and nominated for an Academy Award for the film The French Lieutenant's Woman.
Bibliography - Katherine and her work
2011 April - Art of England magazine “Transition from stone carving to portraiture” – author Katherine Worthington
2010 June – The Independent on Sunday “English heritage shows how to get a head on the Abbey” article on the portrait heads at Westminster Abbey’s Chapter House.
2010 Spring - EASA Journal , Presidents Award & The Chapter House Westminster Abbey
2009 March 11th - Evening Standard, Homes & Property “Roar of the Stone Carver” - an article on London Hippodrome’s Lion and Unicorn.
2008 Jan - Natural Stone Specialist - Restoration: Darnley Mausoleum “A neo - classic masterpiece”
2006 - Historic Churches magazine, Cathedral communications LTD “Mortar & Steel - Katie
Worthington outlines techniques for fixing fine stone carving repairs”
2006 - Number ten, Inspiring careers for woman “A career set in stone - Stonemason Katie Worthington talks about her restoration work on St Paul’s Cathedral”
2004 - June 10th - The Times - “Reportage - All things bright and beautiful” article on the restoration of St Paul’s Cathedral.
2000 Dec - Natural Stone Specialist - article on the restoration of Wellington Arch
2000 Oct 28th -The Daily Telegraph (front page) - article on the restoration of Wellington Arch
2000 Sep - Heritage Today (magazine for English Heritage members) - article on the restoration of Wellington Arch
1998 – York newspapers - HRH Duke of York Unveiling of York Minster’s Great West Door
1998 Feb - Dalesman (magazine) – article on the restoration of York Minster
1997 - Dorset Evening Echo “Katie’s a winner by a head – Student’s art of stone”
Medieval Bishop - Westminster Abbey Chapter House