Robert Evans - award winning craftsman

A Kind of Magic

There was nothing sombre about the wording carved on slate that won Llanelli Craftsman the lettering by Craftsmen section of the National Association of Memorial Masons Craftex '94 Awards.

For Robert is an ardent Freddie Mercury admirer and the mirror-image carving reads: A KIND OF MAGIC IN THE MIRROR.

His creativity netted him a cup, a certificate and a cheque for £100 in the craft competition organised to reward dedication to high standards.

Its not the first time that Robert, who works with his father in the Als Street business T J Lloyd, has made the grade with a tribute to the late Queen singer. He previously came second in the same section with a granite offering carrying Queen song-titles carved in a circle.

His totally different entry for this year was chosen because of the difficulty involved in producing the reversed lettering on the 2 ft square slate plaque, with a hammer and chisel.

There's nothing magic about getting a perfect result. "It's hard work" says Robert of his craft "It took me eight years to learn to carve granite."

But he feels that the end result is worth the effort and better that the more common machine lettering. Any machine lettering ordered at T J Lloyd is hand finished by him as well.

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