Having spent a considerable part of my working life in the woodworking industry running my own busines.
It was a great relief to walk away from one side of woodworking and take up carving on a more serious
basis, rather than dabbling in it as I had previously. However my reinvigorated passion soon resulted in a lot of shelves being filled, until a family member commented !! there's always the wall !!. At first I treated
this comment with some scepticism but on reflection it made sense.
When one thinks of wood carvings, they tend to see them as something that sits on a table, shelf or floor,
or in many cases as ornemental aspects of churches, castles, stately homes and other historical buildings. It's only on rare occasions that carvings are seen as stand alone wall ornements and even rarer as an abstract design.
I also looked at the fact that almost everyone has one or more (some many more than others) framed
paintings, photos or prints on their wall; so why not a framed wood carving??, and so the storey begins.
Each of the carvings are designed, carved, polished and framed by myself in my workshop in Skipton, North
Yorkshire; the frames are also manufactured by myself. My method of carving is such that I modify the
original design as I am working, so that the finished carving has a character of its own which is not shown
on the original design, this results in a carving which is unique and unrepeatable !! a true one off !!.
I chose the Abstract format because it allows me to use my imagination, not only in the design, but also in
the carving process and results in the observer ( other than myself ), being able to interpret the carving as
being something relevent to them, this is enhanced by the fact that the mounted carving can be rotated, in
some cases, to present a different aspect. The open front of the frame (no glass) allows the observer to
appreciate the tactile nature of the carving which is sealed and coated with two coats of beeswax. Only
native or european Lime from sustainable sources is used in the carvings.
Jim MacMorran
Carver
