'Starman', a portrait of David Bowie carved in wood

They are strange, the routes that lead into some projects. 

I had signed up to have a stall at the St Werburghs Community Centre Christmas fair in Bristol and planned to sell wooden stars. I've always liked these stars, made from locally-grown larch timber, so decided to make a few and see if they appealed to other people too. 

After making quite a few of the larch stars, I cut a couple from some oak that was lying around in the studio. The largest one, the same size as the largest stars shown on the table, is about 18cm (7") across. It seemed to need a carving on it and the star shape made me think of the song 'Starman'.

I like to test myself by carving portraits. They aren't easy. Carving a face can be tricky enough, particularly in relief. All the elements of a face carved in relief need to work together without having the same distances between them as in a face seen in full three dimensions: the tip of the nose doesn't come out as much as in a real face, for example.

To successfully make it look like a well-known person is even tougher.

A day was spent before the fair carving to get the piece looking roughly right, then more work was done during the fair itself, in quiet moments between talking to visitors.

I left the portrait with the tool cuts still visible. Sanding carvings of faces can sometimes make them look lifeless and 'plasticky' and hopefully this finish keeps some vitality in the appearance of the carving. 

The star sat in front of me at my workbench for a few days after the fair, being taken down and worked on again as the changing light showed areas that needed reworking. I'm happy with it now.

Wood carving at the 'Really Classical Relay', accompanied by historical instruments such as the viol da gamba and Baroque oboe.

Last weekend, the Bristol Music Club played host to the 'Really Classical Relay' and I was invited to demonstrate wood carving there.

The Bristol Music Club has been running for over a hundred years and specialises in hosting recitals of chamber music at its home in Clifton. 

The Really Classical Relay was a three-day event at which an international group of very talented musicians played classical pieces in a relaxed environment. Children were welcome during the day and visitors could bring food and drink from the cafe into the room while they listened. It was a really nice atmosphere to be in, as you may imagine.

I was set up in the reception next door and spent the afternoon carving a relief portrait of Beethoven into ash timber (F. excelsior). In the evening, the carving was auctioned and the profits went towards the running of the event.

Of course there were times when a quiet piece of music required me to down tools for a bit, rather than crashing over it with some unexpected percussion using mallet and gouge!

It was fun to do a relief portrait. I really enjoy the challenge of carving portraits; they aren't easy and anyone can spot if the likeness of a famous person is wrong. Happily, even without the chance to do any prior research and little reference material to work from, everyone spotted that this was Beethoven...

It was also great to see the beautiful reproductions of historical instruments such as the viol da gamba being played for some pieces.  Another instrument that caught my eye was a Baroque oboe made from boxwood (B. sempervirens), similar to this one:

Image from https://sites.google.com/site/ohmusicstudent/band-instruments/oboe/oboe-history

Thanks to Jon and the team for making me so welcome.

More of Peter Gabbitass' great grandchildren come to see the Downs bench

After the visit by John in February to see the image of his great-grandfather Peter Gabbitass carved into the Downs bench, I have now welcomed three more of the poet's great-grandchildren to my studio to see his portrait.

A couple of weeks ago, Heather, Steve (aka Michael) and Heather's husband Fred came to visit.

They told me how Peter Gabbitass was a carpenter and joiner before deciding to become a poet and that the the Windsor chairs that he made at his workshop in Worksop, Nottinghamshire are now very valuable and sought after. Although he was not a rich man when he died, he left the money that he had to his gardener.

Last week, Eric and his wife Stella also dropped by. It's been real pleasure to share the carving with members of the family and to hear more about the man himself from them.

Libby Houston visits my studio to see her portrait carved in relief and to chat about rare plants and Whitebeam trees

Libby Houston is one of the subjects carved into the large oak bench that I've been working on. She has had six books of poetry published as well as being a winner of the prestigious H.H. Bloomer award, which is given by the Linnean society to 'an amateur naturalist who has made an important contribution to biological knowledge'.

It was a bit nerve-wracking for me, as this was the first time that I've actually shown someone a carved portrait that I've done of them. Libby seemed to like it though...Phew!

I've also carved two lines from her poem 'The Trees Dance' onto the tops of the backrests.

Libby looked over the text to be carved about her on a previous visit, which meant that I don't need to worry about any inaccuracies too much! It was great chatting with her about the rare and unusual trees and plants that can be found in the area. One that was mentioned is Spiked Speedwell, which is rare and lives on the rock faces in the Avon Gorge. 

Image from:http://www.ukwildflowers.com/

This plant colonised the area just after the land was stripped bare by the glaciers of the last Ice Age. It is at home on steep rock faces and very thin soils, so survived in the Gorge when other plants and trees took over elsewhere in the area. It is also perennial, so it grows back from the same rootstock every year. 

Libby said that there is debate amongst botanists as to how long these plants can live for and some believe that in favourable conditions, such as in the Gorge, individual plants could be thousands of years old, possibly even 10,000 years. This is impossible to test at the moment as far as I know but if it is true, it would mean that the plant seen now is exactly the same one that started growing next to the retreating ice sheet!

We also chatted about Hutchinsia, a tiny perennial flower that lives its life cycle through the winter to avoid competition from other plants. It starts growing in autumn and flowers in March. By springtime, when everything else begins their season, it is done for the year and dies back.

Image by natterjacktoad from http://www.ispotnature.org/species-dictionaries/uksi/Hornungia%20petraea

Whitebeams are also a bit unusual in the natural world, as they will hybridise with certain other species (such as the Wild Service Tree Sorbus torminalis) and produce fertile offspring. Usually when species interbreed, the offspring are sterile. An example of this would be mules, the result of a horse breeding with a donkey. Nearly all mules cannot produce offspring themselves.

Whitebeams are also often found on steep slopes and thin soils, where they can live without being overshadowed and having to compete for resources with larger trees such as ash, beech or oak. This local high density of population, together with their fertile hybrid offspring, means that they often interbreed and produce new species. There are at least three unique species in the Avon Gorge alone. 

One of the Whitebeam species has possibly my favourite name of any tree. It grows near Watersmeet, on Exmoor in the Southwest of England, and is called the 'No Parking Whitebeam' (Sorbus admonitor). Why the strange name? The first example was found next to a road and had a 'No Parking' sign fixed to it.

Libby also kindly gave me two fallen leaves from a Whitebeam tree that she discovered in the Avon Gorge to copy in a woodcarving on the bench. It is named 'Houston's Whitebeam' after her. There is only one specimen of this kind of tree known to exist, so I suppose it must be one of the rarest trees in the world.

By the way, the piece of dowel next to the leaf on the right is plugging a hole left when I dug some lead shot out of the wood. I wonder how long it had been in there?

Spectacular carvings by Thomas Paty and John Michael Rysbrack in Redland Chapel, Bristol

Redland chapel is situated in a suburb of Bristol. It was opened in October 1743 and was commissioned by John Cossins as a private chapel for his family.

The chapel is very unusual as it is not dedicated to a particular saint, holy figure or the Christian Trinity. Some have speculated that this may have been largely because it was a private chapel but maybe also because Cossins was a freemason and symbols such as the eye of Osiris were apparently part of the original decoration. When built, it would have stood in a rural setting overlooking small villages, which are now suburbs of the city. These unusual carvings of young African faces look out over the view.

Why such unique subject matter? No one is sure, perhaps it was related to Bristol's unfortunate links to the slave trade, perhaps they were servants who have been immortalised watching over the family tomb below or perhaps it is simply that such portrayals were in vogue at the time.

Inside the chapel are the carvings that I had travelled here to see. Thomas Paty was an eighteenth century carver of stone and wood who was largely based in Bristol, where he worked with his sons John and William. Several local buildings contain sculpture by the Patys. Although the work looks similar to Grinling Gibbons' carving, Thomas Paty was born about eight years before Gibbons died so they were not working at the same time.

Image from:http://bristolgems.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/a-country-chapel-redland-parish-church/

Unfortunately, a large part of the carved work is obscured by an unfortunately-placed projection screen which is apparently prone to jamming when raised. It also covers a large oil painting of the Embalming of Christ by John Vanderbank. The painting is an eighteenth-century copy of an earlier one by Annibale Caracci, which hung in Houghton Hall in Norfolk before going into the collection of the Russian royal family, where it was destroyed in a fire. I only hope that the location of the projection screen can be changed or the jamming sorted out , as it seems like a terrible shame to hide such beautiful and important work behind this blank white obstruction, as you can see below...

The Baroque carvings are executed in limewood, contrasting beautifully against a dark oak background. They have recently been restored after years of woodworm damage as well as some vandalism during a break-in a few years ago. Much of the carving work in the restoration was done by Charles Oldham, who is based in nearby Frome.

It was certainly worth it, they are stunning. The restoration work has not filled in every worm hole, as you can see below, but particularly damaged parts were replaced and everything cleaned, apparently the cleaning material being saliva on cotton buds. I was told that saliva contains enzymes that make it more effective than water for the job.

The cover of the font below was stolen during the break-in and a replacement has been carved and gilded by Laurence Beckford

The 'Bristolgems' blog has some very interesting information about the chapel and about Paty himself.

Near the entrance are two marble busts carved by the noted carver John Michael Rysbrack, who was originally Flemish but based himself in London and was one of the pre-eminent portrait sculptors of the time. They depict John and William Innys, the brothers of John Cossins' wife Martha, in informal attire. Perhaps this was also the fashion during that period? 

The informality does seem a bit odd in a church, especially when the nearby busts of John and Martha Cossins (also by Rysbrack) are much more formal. 

The busts of the Cossins were made in 1734 and kept at their house until Martha's death in 1762. If the busts of her brothers were made at the same time and kept in the house, that could possibly explain their informality. Maybe Cossins and Martha preferred a more formal look?

Unfortunately, following the break-in the chapel now has to be locked outside of times of services. However, if you contact the chapel, they are happy to show people inside by appointment. Many thanks to Gill and Michael for taking time to show me around and chat about the beautiful work there.

The Porch House, Bishops Castle, Shropshire - a beautiful timber-framed building with recent oak carvings next to far older ones

This interesting Grade II listed building is located in Bishops Castle, a small town close to the Wales/England border.

According to their website, dendrochronology tests have shown that the timbers used in the original building were felled in the winter/spring of 1564 going into 1565. There does appear, however, to be debate about this being the date of building (see below).

This building probably replaced earlier ones, as it is very near to the much older castle. It is interesting as it uses two different methods to fill the gaps between the timbers of the frame: wattle and daub and plank and muntin. The latter uses planks of wood and this is one of only three examples in Shropshire.

There is interesting evidence of a later build date or possible later repairs or alterations to the building carved onto the porch; the letters 'EMT' and a date of 161? (the last digit having been defaced).

On the details of its listing on the 'British Listed Buildings' website, it would appear that the building itself is dated to the 17th Century rather than the 16th, perhaps on the evidence of these carved details. Other sources date the building to 1611: 

I was particularly interested in the carved figures under the jettied first floor frontage and the painted designs under the eaves. Some of the carved figures appear very old and I would suspect might date back to the original build:

This one is protected from the elements within the porch. I wonder if it is supposed to represent a saint, given that the design around it looks a lot like it is based on a cross? However, some of the crosses do not appear to be complete (below the face). The same carved and painted cross-in circle design also runs along a fascia facing onto the street. It is right under the eaves and so is protected by them. 

I think that the jetty supports (before some were replaced) could have predated the building of the porch, as they have been spaced regularly along the building and do not appear to have been placed to allow for the porch's construction. The  one below is at the other end of the frontage and has been very damaged over time. However, it still shows some features similar to the one above.

By the late 1970s, the porch house was apparently in a very poor state of repair. However, in the early 1980s a significant grant and help from the English Heritage organisation meant that it could be restored. Three of the carved figures under the front jetty were replaced  in 1989 with these very fine portraits of the children who lived in the building at the time, named Hugh and Poppy according to the Wikimedia page listed above.

I believe that the carver may have been local and that their initials were GMJ, but can't find out any more. Very nice work though!

The porch house now operates as a bed and breakfast, with some self catering facilities, so you can stay there if you like. We camped nearby, so I don't know what it's like, but the building is certainly worth seeing. Their website also has more on the building's history with some photographs as well. You can visit it here:

http://theporchhouse.com/index.html

'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.

Totem antics and a finished baton

The weather has been great here for most of the last few days, so I took the opportunity to get a lot of work done on the totem pole commission. It's coming along well, just needing more work on the portrait head at the top. I've really enjoyed getting to grips with carving a larger piece in green larch, which is a tricky wood to work with and demands practice and very sharp tools.

Owl, waiting for it's carved, outstretched wings to be attached...

Horse...

Trout, with bubbles...

Initials and date of birth...

...and some parasol mushrooms at the bottom (my favourite edible mushroom).

Today also saw the catch being fitted to the birthday baton. It is now finished! The box is made from oak with brass fittings. For more information about it, please see the previous post.