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April 12th:- The second piece is now roughly blocked out, again using large gouges and great force, to establish basic shapes. After a short while you can already tell what this is going to be, can't you? |
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A ball of wood is left in the centre which will soon be a flower head, containing many smaller flowers. Around the outside the shapes of the leaves of the plant are being formed. Again the artists imagination is taxed as he cuts away shavings, working towards a mental image of the finished piece. |
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Creating a Carving 3 |
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Much time is spent on this area around the flower. The small gouges being used are kept especially sharp to minimise the pressure needed to cut in and around the individual flowers. This part of the carving is most important, it should be the crowning glory of the piece. |
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April 16th:- In this picture the next stage of the carving is revealed. Several of the flower petals have already been defined, whilst pencil marks showing where the petals will be cut can be seen on the disc in the foreground. |
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At this stage of the carving constant refinement is occurring. As wood is removed new access is to be found to previously unreachable areas and more definition is possible. A gouge has been placed through the flower head to demonstrate how little wood remains. |
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April 13th:- In the same painstaking way as in the first piece the leaves are gradually carved in the background. The flower head which will become extremely delicate is left until last, this ensures that no breakages happen during the process of carving or handling. |
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April 14th:- The flower head can now be worked on. At this stage each single flower is nothing more than a disc. Each one is cut at a slightly different level, they overlap each other, spraying out in different directions. Some undercutting has been done at the base of the flower head, but it still has a very thick base to be worked on. |
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Andrew starts to remove the wood underneath the flowers, a very delicate operation, which involves getting the cutting edge of chisels deeper and deeper through the gaps between the flowers |
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April 15th:- With a great deal of care the wood around and underneath the small flowers is excavated, leaving a honeycombed network of wood, which will gradually be refined to be the structure of stalks supporting the flowers. Even though this area of the carving will not be immediately obvious in the finished piece, it is one of the defining principles of Andrews work that all areas are subjected to the highest levels of concentrated workmanship. |
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