So, I could do it!! It turns out that I can actually turn an old log into something that I thought looked and felt beautiful. Happy days!
This piece has followed me around for 22 years but, I'm happy (and sad) to say, and as I alluded to in my first post, we have now parted company. This weekend just passed I sold the Diver - my first piece carved and my first piece sold which is quite fitting really.
I signed the base of this sculpture using my wife's maiden name - Schipelbaum ('shovel tree' is the literal translation of that name I believe!). I did this for two reasons. Mainly, I signed it Schipelbaum in recognition of the fact that I wouldn't be able to pursue my art without Tanya's support. Though she was a career girl anyway, Tanya readily accepted the bulk of our financial responsibility in order that I might follow a less time consuming career path and dedicate more effort to my art. The other reason was because it was so unique. Tanya reclaimed her maiden name when we divorced and I would have done the same. Her name was instantly recognised within dancing circles that she'd been a part of since early childhood. She has since acquired the Basingstoke Academy of Dance which, I'm delighted to say, appears to be doing very well.
The new Oak base has been signed using my new branding iron but the original signature remains on the base of the Diver itself.
I signed a couple of other pieces using Schipelbaum and Tanya, as far as I'm aware, is still in possession of the first. We were avid readers of fantasy books back then. In particular we loved The Magician trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and subsequent books by he and Janny Wurts. From those books came the inspiration for my next piece - The Sorcerer.
I was running around as an old fashioned 'Insurance Man' at this time. I used to go and collect premiums each week or month from the customers of Pearl Assurance. Actually, I sold the products as well and my biggest cock up was selling my Brother a useless endowment policy!! Sorry Phil! .... I digress!
A large part of the area I managed was rural, so, one of my regular visits was to a local farmer. Once I got to know him we discussed all-sorts. At some point I must have mentioned my love of sculpture and carving because he gave me a couple of old Oak gate posts that had just been replaced and which were due to visit his fireplace!! Naturally I accepted them with open arms and when I got home I started work on one of them almost immediately.
The Sorcerer took a long time and the design changed a few times during it's creation. Being so old and weathered there were lots of areas that were just too rotten or fragile to carve. The difficulty came from the fact that these areas were often hidden and didn't reveal themselves until you removed the timber from above or around them!! The staff and orb were a result of this. I can't remember exactly what I had planned to do with his arms and hands but I do know that I hadn't intended to make life so difficult by having to carve a wee ball!! Anyway, as a second effort I think it turned out ok. I may do some more of these at some point because the subject matter lends itself to tall sweeping minimalist sculpture and I like that a lot - we'll see.
My final Schipelbaum piece was this base I made from the same Oak gatepost that the Sorcerer came from. This came about when Tanya and I went on a golfing holiday with our good friends Colin and Sheila. Colin and I had played very poor golf for a number of years and, as we were both competitive, we decided we should have a trophy for the winner of the weeks golfing efforts. I made the base to make the glass trophy a little more interesting and fully expected to be bringing it home with me. WRONG!!! I played like a twat and behaved like a petulant child for which I remain deeply embarrassed and apologise profusely to Tanya and Sheila! I'm not apologising to Colin because he won!!
The shape of this piece was dictated by the glass trophy and by the timber itself. That's it really! I knew I had to make a groove in which the glass would sit relatively securely and so I fashioned it around that. The final design just happened!
That was the last piece of timber I carved in the round for nearly twenty years. Whenever I've moved house I've always transported a pile of Lime and Yew with me which came from Salisbury Cathedral Close - I happened to be working there one day when they were trimming the trees! I asked and they were kind enough to let me help myself! I only have one piece left now because I started living in rented property. I found it difficult to store these big pieces and, at that time, I could see no way I was going to get an opportunity to work all of this wood. However, the piece I do have is a substantial piece of Yew (one of my favourite timbers) and I do fully intend to make it beautiful one day.
I'm currently working on a couple of oak shelf supports for a work colleague but I've been working on them for about 5 years now!! I WILL get them finished eventually - sorry Matt!!
The next part of my story looks at my transition from carving in the round to carving in relief - and the unlikely suitability of MDF for carving - but that's for the next post.