• wood craft

    I Try My Hand at Wood Carving!

    I have mentioned my friend Paul Clarke, the sculptor. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go on a day wood carving workshop he was holding. I was not about to lose this chance to try my hand at wood carving. I loved it. It was wonderful working with wood but in a different discipline. I decided not to try a three dimensional piece, but a relief. I felt that this would give me the opportunity to use a number of different wood carving tools. I also felt that if I could get to grips with this discipline there also seemed more chance I would do something again with…

  • Background to wood and its history

    Yew Trees

    Yew trees are beautiful and I love working with Yew wood. Yew wood is one of the most interesting and beautiful woods, highly sought after by wood turners and furniture makers. It has a creamy coloured sapwood with much darker orange brown heartwood creating a striking contrast. The patterns created by the Yew tree as it grows tend to be very varied and ‘wild’. Yew trees also do not tend to grow smooth and round but undulating in and out. This means that if I can make things from yew that retain the natural edge this adds an interesting feature to the piece. However, yew also tends to surface crack…