This job started with a disappointment ~ after visiting the tree earlier in the year to assess it and get a vague feel for the position of any carvings, I returned just prior to commencing work to find enormous clumps of fungus at the base of the tree and dotted at frightening regularity up and down the trunk.
I went to my fungus-guru, Pete Bowser, who said it’s a common issue with sycamore and the fungus is a sign of internal decay; apparently though, the outer part of the trunk could remain sound for some time. I passed this on to the client, who after consideration decided on a smaller design than originally discussed ~ which seemed the wise thing to do. After all this I was amazed at the firmness of the wood when I started the carving ~ it was like rock, and my wrists felt like they’d been given a severe pummeling after the first two days.
The design was a simple image of a wild boar and a scroll with the village name “Wilberfoss” (which has as its origin “Wild Boar Foss”, with many of the animals inhabiting this area near the river Foss at one time).
I had to place my ladder in quite a precarious position, spanning a large hedge and reaching pretty high, so the carving could be viewed from the road and a junction directly opposite.
The bus stop was practically at the foot of the ladder, so I received plenty of puzzled looks as I chipped off the bark, both from those waiting for a bus and those sitting on the top of the regular double deckers.
I always try and get as much done on the first day as possible, but the hardness of the timber and the awkward positions I had to contort to at times made it a slower job than usual. I set in most of the basic shape of the head and had the rest drawn on, but when the street lamps have come on it’s probably time to knock off!
The next stage was shaping the body and legs, and the boar was near to being finished. The mohican-style strip of hair down the spine finished him off, and I was quite pleased with how the animal had fitted on to the trunk. I was a little frustrated that the discolouration of the wood on the face and leg perhaps confused things, but there’s not a lot I can do about it. Hopefully a few coats of Danish Oil will make the different shades less conspicuous.
Starting on the scroll next to the boar; if I work from the top down and leave the bottom “open” I won’t have to worry too much about not fitting in the word “Wilberfoss.”
