I have quite a few carvings to do at Moorlands, near York, a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve ~ and what a lovely place to work. Famed for its spectacular collection of rhododendrons and azaleas, some of which are very old, and stunning in the way they twist upwards as though dancing.
I decided to make a start from home though, completing the ten trail marker-posts before beginning work on site.
The 160cm x 20cm x 12cm green oak slabs were delivered from the sawmill, and I immediately got work sanding the rough wood; then I had to fathom out how to work on them. Upright would be a bit uncomfortable, as would having them flat on the floor which would’ve been a pain in the back; I managed to lift them up to a good height by clamping one end in the superjaws and resting the other end on my folding ladders.
I thought the designs had to link together by having the same format of a circle surrounding the subject and the text underneath; it worked well as all the subjects lent themselves to a circular shape in one way or another. The green oak was easy enough to carve, although a bit fluffy in parts, and of course the risk of cracking which always hangs over you when working with unseasoned oak.
I don’t think my car’s suspension could handle transporting these to York, so arrangements are being made for collection; hopefully they’ll be on site and set in place very soon.
