I'm making a king-size bed for my friends Andy and Victoria, using Lawson cypress from the same trees that provided the timber for the Matthew figurehead. These trees grew next to Ashton Court in Bristol and were real local landmarks, so it's great to be able to be able to turn their timber into things that will be genuinely appreciated for the wood's background story too. I'm also hoping to set a lovely piece of driftwood into the headboard that I collected on a beach near their house on the day of their wedding. This is a picture of that beach...
Next week sees the beginning of a project building some benches in a wood on Pur Down, on the edge of Bristol. The site is not far from where I have been building a pizza oven recently. I'll be working with local young people as well as Anna from St Werburgh's City Farm and Steve England, a local outdoorsman with a lot of local knowledge. It should be good fun and hopefully will be a stepping stone to getting Pur Down more respected and maintained after some time without structured management. It is a beautiful and interesting place and has some fascinating history. You can go to Steve's website by clicking on this link...website. Worth a look, with info about Pur Down which is a very important place to Steve.
There will also be more work with local young people coming up at Boiling Wells and possibly also with an organisation called Groundwork, who have asked if I'm interested in assisting with some conservation management and maybe also running some short courses. Early days, as they have only just been in touch, but sounding interesting. I may also be running a carving workshop for my driving instructor later in the year!
Yesterday I went to a stretch of disused railway line near Pucklechurch, which has been turned into a cycle path by volunteers. The path will connect Bristol and Yate. There is a chance that I could make a bench to go there and I discussed ideas with Rachel Goodchild, from an organisation called Art Express, who is looking to get some sculptures situated along the path. I fancy making a bench in the shape of a giant creepy crawley, as the area is rich in coal seams that were laid down during the Carboniferous period (about 300 million years ago). At that time, giant creepy crawlies were commonplace- huge dragonflies, scorpions and an ancestor of centipedes and millipedes which grew to about 20 feet long! It would be a great project, but I know from experience not to get too excited about these things until it is all confirmed and definite. Learnt that little lesson the hard way, and no mistake!
No comments:
Post a Comment