Two complete projects, fascinating history and myth, and 26 additional full page patterns for creating functional and decorative gargoyles from wood. Learn to carve a traditional water-spouting gargoyle and classic grotesque with step-by-step instructions. Includes 10 additional patterns for mythical creatures incorporated into architectural elements, like a working doorknocker.

Enter a mysterious world of fantasy, beauty, and horror with this historic collection of architectural details from centuries-old structures — gargoyles, busts, cartouches, pedestals, more. Bonus CD-ROM includes all images from the book.

Gargoyles are an architectural feature designed to throw rainwater clear of the walls of a building. Widely used on medieval churches, these water spouts were often richly decorated, and fashioned as serpents' heads and other fanciful shapes. Today, the term gargoyle is also popularly applied to any carved decorative head or creature high up on a building and this book is an exploration of all of these enchanting features. Written by an academic and stonecarver, it is the perfect introduction to this fascinating subject. Gargoyles aims to provide a concise introduction to the stone carvings often found on religious and secular buildings in Britain from the medieval period to the modern. It will explore the typical imagery, some of the theories put forward to explain them, as well as consider the carvings within their architectural and social contexts. Incorporating recent and current research, the book will nevertheless be accessible to the general reader.

The symbols and strange images that we find in our cemeteries, religious structures, banks and in our parks are the same symbols that have been part of the framework of the human psyche for thousands of years. While contemporary man may think that they are simply decorative manifestations of a by-gone era, they represent the fears, dreams, ideas, beliefs and struggles that humankind has endured since we began to walk upright. This book surveys many of these icons and will give a meaning for them both in the context of ancient history and folklore as well as a meaning that is suitable for our contemporary times. Illustrated with dozens of photographs, this book will be of interest to anyone interested in historic preservation, ancient symbolism, the Green Man and the universal application of imagery. Gary R. Varner has written numerous books on ancient traditions, folklore, the environment and contemporary issues. He is a member of the American Folklore Society and the Foundation for Mythological Studies.

A fresh and irresistible history of gargoyles-a society of stone creatures perched high above the workaday world. Includes an invaluable guide to gargoyle sites throughout western Europe.

With his imagination running rampant, Tom Wolfe uses both traditional hand carving tools and rotary tools to bring his artistry to the dragon. The steps to carving a dragon are illustrated in color or black & white photographs and concise instructions. A gallery with patterns and photographs of three other dragons is provided.