I am very fortunate to have been granted a scholarship from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust which will allow me to train with master craftswoman Alison Crowther. Alison is a skilled word carver with over 25 years of experience producing large scale, intricately carved sculpture from, predominantly, green English Oak. The aim of the training will be to develop my skills with traditional hand carving tools, learning the sharpening processes, tool selection and uses to produce surface textures and carvings that will add a new dimension to my work. There will be an additional focus on design and commission proposals, an area where Alison also has vast experience with a masters degree in furniture design and a large portfolio of commissioned work in the private, commercial and public domains.
I first met Alison in a garden where I was working as a tree surgeon and Alison was delivering a piece of her work to the client. A chance encounter. The piece was a wonderful hand carved bench in English Oak, and I was amazed that it had been produced from a tree previously cut down in the same garden. At home, I looked up Alison’s website and sent her an email wondering if I could be of any use with my chainsaw skills. The answer was ‘maybe, but not at the moment’. Roll on a couple of years and I got an email saying to visit the workshop and have a chat about a potential position opening up. I jumped at the chance and was lucky enough to be given a day or two a week assisting with rough shaping duties.
Well, that was seven years ago and I still work as Alison’s assistant two days a week. After a while I decided to start making my own work using the skills I had learned so far and with a never ending supply of large timber from my other job, begrudgingly hefted onto the truck by my colleagues (I think I still owe a beer or two for sore backs). It was so enjoyable to do something creative with timber I had felled and the more time and energy I put into it the more I could see the potential for it to become a sustainable career. I do remember discussing the use of hand tools with Alison, and laughing because I would never have the patience for that, especially having watched the hundreds of hours she pours into some of her works. And yet as time went on I started to have a go at carving a little diamond here and a little texture there and began to appreciate the results of investing that amount of time into producing something unique and skilled. And so here I am, having produced some of my own simple, hand carved pieces, ready to learn from a master!
I am very grateful to QEST for the scholarship grant that is facilitating this training, and for the amazing support they offer to their alumni. Click their logo on my homepage to find more about what they do.
