Monday, August 30, 2010

Festival Of The Tree Westonbirt Arboretum



We spent the day today (30th August) at the beautiful surroundings of Westonbirt Arboretumand the Amazing Festival Of The Tree.

A Great family day out and for me I was in my element...... :-)







Carvings done from large forested trees within the arboretum, done by wood sculptors. these were auctioned off to raise money for the arboretum. All of the above are large sculptures as shown in the first picture.

The Festival had a large range of craft and other stalls and these guys interested me..... :-)


Above right, female woodspirit. this was a particularly nice piece.
Above left is a beautiful piece in two tone with a contemporary look.


Above left are a couple of rustic spirits, which I'm not convinced are made locally but are potentially imported..! I could be wrong !! These guys are 9" to 12" tall and as you will see priced at £65.

Above right is a fantastic chair which I would have loved to be able to afford to buy it and transport it home.


Ranging from small to large woodspirits. I was surprised not to see more, and in truth there were some that were very poor quality. These are the best!

These sculptures below are fabulous.

Drift wood sculpture of horses



These were totally stunning.


Another large sculpture


This was the size of a three seat sofa!

The arboretum has sculptures dotted around, this is one that particularly took me.


The weather has aged and given this piece a beautiful finish in superb surroundings.

As said a wonderful day out and some fantastic carvings.

Alongside the carvings there was a fantastic metal worker who created metal leaves and organic metal work.




We watched the craftsman demonstrate how he makes the leaves. he turned it into a pendent about 1 1/4" long. It was later purchased; its great to watch something being made and then able to buy it.

There was a shortage of carving tools for sale, particularly carving knives. possibly more to to with legislation on knives in this country. This was the only possible disappointment from the day for me.

Oh and we got to walk around the arboretum too


Your comments are as usual more than welcome.

Regards Dave

More carvings to come soon :-)

5 comments:

ArtPropelled said...

How wonderful! No wonder you were in your element Dave. I love the weather-worn piece and would have enjoyed watching the metal bod working. Great driftwood pieces too. Thanks so much for sharing.

Valerianna said...

What a great event... I would have loved it, too! Those driftwood horses are, as you say, stunning- the movement of wind in the mane... wow. Your work would have made a lovely addition....

Graham said...

Glad you enjoyed the Festival. Just one thing though, the proceeds from the auction of the sculptures goes to TreeAid (www.treeaid.org.uk) and not to the arboretum, which is part of the Forestry Commission.

Jenn said...

I agree with Valerianna the driftwood horses are stunning. I truly loved them and the chair with a face.

jenn
http://www.momentsofelegance.com

Woodwosecarving said...

Hi Robyn, glad you liked the post, it was a fantastic day and one I will revisit next year.

Valarianna: I have considered looking into having a small stall next year.

Graham: thanks for the correction. I hope they raised a reasonable sum on the day

Jen: the chair was stunning and would be a great piece to own.