Carving workshops and making a bench for LinkAge in Lawrence Weston, Bristol with younger and older participants

Running workshops for LinkAge is always a lot of fun. They organise projects to try and get young and old people working together, encouraging communication between two groups that might not otherwise come into contact in a positive situation.

I've led several workshops in the west of Bristol for LinkAge previously and it was great to be asked to run these two days at Blaise Weston Court retirement home in Lawrence Weston.

Everything was set up in the main atrium of the building, so residents could drop in and have a go if they wanted to. There were two possible activities; making a simple, shallow relief carving or working together to make a bench from larch timber, to go in the garden of the home.

I hadn't run a session in this kind of environment before and noticed that many people having a go had mobility issues, which would perhaps make going to a venue elsewhere difficult and unappealing. It was great to see them getting stuck into the activity in a more convenient setting and some people commented that they really enjoyed using tools again, after a working life in a trade such as electrician.

Three young people from the local Gateway school were also helping to build the bench and they worked very hard, alongside one of the residents of the home, making a great job of the finished bench.

Everyone seemed very happy with how things went and I hope that the bench will be in the garden for a long time to come!

Interviewed about woodcarving by Steve Yabsley on BBC Radio Bristol (and Radio Somerset) - with images of some of the things that we talked about

Today I packed a large rucksack full of tools and carvings and headed over to BBC Bristol on Whiteladies Road in Bristol.

Steve Yabsley - or 'Yabbo' - was going to interview me on his lunchtime show. Steve had phoned up out of the blue last week and asked if I'd like to chat about woodcarving with him. Of course I was happy to!

So I arrived at the studio feeling nervous and excited. Simon the producer met me at reception. He was welcoming and friendly and  helped calm the nerves a lot. Steve was also relaxed and friendly, even though he was dealing with a few technical difficulties at the time.

It was really enjoyable talking with him about all kinds of things; how I got into carving and the links between carvings and stories amongst other things. You can hear the interview by clicking on this image:

Steve very kindly said afterwards that he thought I'd come across well, which was a relief to hear! If you are wondering what the carvings mentioned look like after hearing it, here they are. You can find out more about each by clicking on the caption:

Predator Bird Skull

Sgian Dubh and Kiltpin

 Wooden kiltpin

Carved Self Portrait

Insects inspired by the HI-MEMS project

Bristol Cathedral Misericords

Medieval-style woodcarving tools, made to my own designs

Repairing a sculpture by Friday Tembo

Oldest known figurative carving

Image from http://donsmaps.com/images23/lionman2.jpg

Teaching Woodcarving in the Sunshine at Bradley Stoke in Bristol

There was a lot of fun had in Bradley Stoke today. It has been a lovely sunny weekend and I've been teaching local people woodcarving on behalf of Touchwood Enterprises, a local company which makes play structures using local, sustainably sourced timber whenever possible. Both Touchwood and I are members of the Forest of Avon Products, a not-for-profit cooperative based around the Bristol area.

Touchwood are making a play structure for Knightstone, a housing association, and asked me if I would work with them to carve some larch poles with local residents. It will be fitted into a green space in Bradley Stoke for them to enjoy.

Working alongside me, Katie and Ellie from Knightstone and Nico, who led the peeling of the bark off the larch poles and the digging of holes, everyone got stuck in and worked really hard.

We had some very keen hole diggers at work:

Who checked the quality of the holes very carefully after they had been dug:

Everything was also helped along by a plentiful supply of free tea, coffee and delicious cupcakes, supplied by the 'Dandy Cabin'. 

'Bristol: Ambitious City' at the Architecture Centre on Bristol Waterfront

A self-portrait carved by me is in this exhibition at the moment. The show is about different ways that Bristol might develop as a city and also provides a space for relevant local organisations to show what they do as well.

The Forest of Avon Wood Products Cooperative, of which I'm a member, are showing what we are doing as tenants to maintain and improve the Bower Ashton woodyard.

The FOAWP Coop is a not-for-profit marketing cooperative which has existed for twelve years and promotes using local, sustainably sourced timbers as much as possible. It also seeks to develop networks to help local timber growers and users. You can see more at:
http://www.forestofavonproducts.co.uk/

The woodyard consists of the original estate buildings for Ashton Court, including the old sawmill and granary. Currently there are eight woodworking businesses based in workshops there, all of whom are members of the FOAWP Cooperative. The courtyard is shared with the Bristol Council estates department and the Ashton Court rangers.

The Coop sees the potential to turn these buildings into a creative hub promoting local timber use in everything from large scale play constructions to fine carving. Ideally, it could become a recognised centre that would develop national and international connections in the woodworking, artistic, crafts and architectural worlds. Whether this can happen depends on the cooperative getting a further tenancy lease from the council when the current term is up in three years time.

If you are in Bristol, why not drop by and read more about it? The exhibition ends on the 23rd July and the Cooperative's contribution will be there for the next two weeks.