Carving wood sculpture


The wood is seasoned four to six years. Exploring the wood, I study, measure and draw the entire piece. My imagination roams as I note the natural curves and dimensions. One can have a basic theme in mind before hand but the wood is the ultimate boss.

I draw the idea inside the drawing of the piece of wood. When I'm satisfied and truly 'see' the sculpture inside the wood I make a clay model of what I want the sculpture to ultimately look like, progressing from two to three dimensions. This is where I take my basic measurements from to find out if the clay model will fit inside the wood.

My next step is to remove the large chunks of wood that I feel confident about leaving behind. This new sculpture is not something I have carved a dozen times, one impetuous move could be costly!

The remainder of the carving is done with a chisel and mallet as sculptors have used for thousands of years.

Michelangelo once said that you simply take away everything that isn't the sculpture. Easy does it ...?

Well, this can take two to four months. Then it's filing and filing, sanding and sanding and the sculpture gets more and more beautiful as the wood grains appear.

Sculpting wood is a satisfying and incredible experience marked by moments of frustration and despair. All in all, sculpting wood is great fun. I hope you enjoy the sculptures.

Work in progress
2009