Woodcarving and Soapstone
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(Or how I learned to love carving rabbits)
Paul Green, the tutor, got me started on my first carving. It was a relief of a cheetah leaping between two piles of rocks. Carved on a piece of window frame it took me most of the first year. I found I loved carving though not the final stages of rubbing down and finishing off. I wanted to get onto the next carving but had to be patient.
Next I tried carving in the round – a monkey. I bought a piece of lime from a shop in Orpington (The Fixings Shop, now gone). and didn’t realise the wood had cracks that would cause me problems as time went on. I can still remember the day my monkey’s face split open down one side and peeled back like a flower. I can also remember Paul saying reassuringly, “It was too big anyway – cut the other side off to match”. How right he was. There are few disasters in carving.
Carvings sometimes sit on my kitchen unit for months while I try to work out what to do next. But I love the ‘ah-ha!’ moment I get with carving – when something suddenly becomes clear. It’s the moment when you realise which bit of wood to remove or you visualise the object INSIDE the piece of wood you’ve been turning in your hands for ages. I initially found the transition from relief carving to carving in the round very difficult and like doing deep reliefs which are a cross between the two – the best of both worlds.
I only have a few carvings here now. The cheetah, the monkey, a Green Man, a phoenix rising from flames, Snoopy lying on the roof of his dog kennel, a Christmas carving of the Three Wise Men, a moon gazing hare in soapstone with which I also work. I carved a knock-kneed ostrich with his head in the sand and made a bowl in pottery (yes, another evening class) to hold real sand. The rest have gone to friends – another hare, an ammonite in zebrano, a banana ( for someone collecting wooden fruit – I ate a lot of bananas that year), Winnie the Pooh with his head stuck in the honey pot, the sun emerging from behind clouds and a little cat.
There must be others as that doesn’t sound much for ten years’ work. But I like starting new carvings and always have several on the go at once. I can think of about 10 right now and since I only carved regularly at Alma Road and Woodentops, a local carving group in Orpington, it takes ages to finish a piece. I was told about Woodentops at Alma Road and became a member around 2001. There’s a great feeling of camaraderie in all areas of woodcarving. Everyone’s more than willing to help and make suggestions. I am also a member of the BWA, the British Woodcarvers Association. The Woodentops is the SE London and NW Kent branch of the BWA.
Where do the rabbits come into it? I’d already carved two moon gazing hares in soapstone and made several in clay in pottery for the garden. Then I saw a book called The Rabbits’ Rebellion in a bookshop in Bromley. The cover had four rabbits standing on each others’ shoulders making a kind of totem pole. I like carving pieces that make people smile and have been obsessed with carving this tricky image ever since. To try to help I’ve made models in clay, modelling wax and plasticine. I’ve got two carvings on the go, one in the round, the other a deep relief. Having got a reputation as the ‘rabbit lady’ – “rabbit, rabbit, rabbit” – I’m considering incorporating a trademark rabbit into all future carvings. But maybe that’s taking it too far … wait and see.
Through carving I’ve learnt patience (sanding), acceptance (when monkeys explode) and to go with my imagination (piles of bunnies). Thanks to everyone who’s made carving such fun for me!
Sue Medley 5th April 2005
(CV updated 26th Jan 2007)