Woodcarvings in the Church

In the Beginning:
a small exhibition of contemporary art and poetry
at: St. Laurence Church, Falmer South, BN1 9PB
on: Saturdays and Sundays  11am - 5pm
from: April 20th - May 25th

I shall be invigilating on Sat. 26th April, 2 - 5, and Sat. 17th May, 2 - 5.
On Sunday May 11th from 3pm I shall be performing some of my poems alongside other poets.
So do come along, and say hello!

The Prayer of the Bone

I am excited about this piece I have just completed. It is a piece of twisty elm that was growing in a friend's hedge. Have had it ages. Then I was listening to a reading of T.S.Eliot's Four Quartets on the radio, and the phrase ...."The prayer of the bone on the beach..." caught my imagination. Polished with brywax.

Woman with Tree Antlers

This is a piece of lime wood, which did have three separating branches at the top. I began to find more, which became quite obsessive, but look OK I hope.

something fishy

Fish Head! An odd little oak and silver carving that came to me just pre Xmas

Recarved Mother and Child

Well I wasn't entirely happy with the mother's head, when this piece was exhibited in The Crypt Gallery, it was a little "football" shaped, oh dear. So I have recarved it & am now happy with the way her chin is scrunched gently on the child's head. I remember that feeling, when my sons were small.....

A Bird in the Hand - finished

This carving in lime wood has surprised me, I didn't really plan it and yet it seemed determined to exist on a very "real" level. The chunky lad has a pony tail. I have found out that geese are very compassionate birds. If one of them falls out of the flock during migration, another goose will join the injured one, and stay with it until it heals and is able to fly again, or dies. Only then will the rescuer goose rejoin the flock. No goose will ever be left alone.

New Work in Progress

I am currently working on a largish piece of lime. It's very pale wood, with  washes of darker browns. The grain is not so pronounced as in oak, but it is also less heavy to heave around on the workbench, since I have yet to locate a troupe of young men to assist! Lime was traditionally used for many figurative church carvings as it is great for detailed work. I have not yet got to that stage. I have become addicted to this piece, most of the rest of life seems a distraction, apart from swimming which keeps my shoulders mobile. I may call it "A Bird in the Hand".