A customer had given me a very old, odd-shaped plank of oak, sliced off a larger piece which was being used as a mantel. It was full of cracks, holes and faults but had a lot of character, and credit to the customer for seeing its potential beyond all this. He’d requested something based on his new home in Wensleydale , and sent me some photos of his views which he hoped I could incorporate into the carving.
Above is the front, best side, the holed and cracked back is below.
Looking like a different piece of wood once sanded.
The photos I’d received had sheep and lambs, a dry-stone wall and a striking hilly landscape, so I incorporated these along with oak leaves (there being a prominent old oak tree in the middle of the village) into the design.
With the oak narrowing at one end there was a space to be filled, and with the oak leaves at the other end I felt an acorn would be fitting ; this proved to be very apt, as soon after the customer contacted me to say his wife had just given birth to their son and asked for his name to be added to the carving. It seemed very symbolic as I had chosen to carve two oak leaves, which could represent the parents, and the acorn could represent the new-born baby (“Mighty oaks from little acorns grow”!).
The finished carving, with the landscape in the background.