Celtic Warrior

The title may give a big clue as to the subject matter for this carving.

The wood is a piece collected from the woods locally. I decided on a range of carvings depicting Celtic Warriors. each will be given a name and will be wall hanging pieces finished in Danish oil and pyrography.

The use of Elder Furthark runes link the carvings to the 5th century AD just after the Romans abandoned Britain. These warriors are linked to the Arthurian legends and held the Saxons (Sace) at bay for a while.

The pyrography depicts the name of this warrior as

MADOC ab OWAIN

The runes under the name show the name in the Elder Futhark alphabet.

The use of the term ab or ap means 'son of'. Its normally 'ap' but 'ab' is used when the second name (the name of the father) starts with a vowel sound.

The other Runic letters are just a random selection.

At this stage the eyes are not finished. there are a number of ways the eyes could be detailed and I am in two or three minds on what to do. The usual method is an old stone carvers method of drilling holes into the eye to add simple but effective detail. I am researching different eye detail and will complete once I've found a detail I like. Some sculptors leave the eyes vacant!! Me... I want some life in the eyes.

Here he stands in full.

Height: 33 cm

Width: 13 cm

Carving height: 11 cm

Carving width: 9 cm

The helmet would have been Iron and many were based on old Roman designs or 'borrowed' from Saxon raiders.

A new approach to the traditional carving. I hope to do a series of warriors and then see what they may fetch on the shelves of the virtual shop.

This guy is:-

Woodwose Carving Celtic Warrior #001 Madoc ab Owain 2011

Your thoughts and views are as always very welcome.

regards

~Dave~

Work In Progress Aug 2011

What's been keeping me from blogging?

Well I have a full on Job, I'm a chair of Governors at my sons school, I have an allotment and I've a full on family :-)

I have also been carving walking sticks (which I will post soon) and I have been harvesting Sphearoblasts and carving small netsuke size faces.

here are some pictures that show some of the work done. they will form part of a larger piece similar to 'Face Tree'

These pictures show how small some of the carvings are.

size actually doesn't matter...... they still take quite some time.

Once these guys start to come together I will post a picture or two.

Comments welcome

~Dave~

Sycamore Woodwose

This fella is carved from sycamore and is one of the final pieces from Powys gathered wood.

Its a larger carving through a phase of carving small sphearoblasts.

the piece is 13 1/2" tall by 3 1/2" diameter at the face. the face itself (including beard and hair) is 6 1/2 tall and 2 1/4" wide.

This picture gives a bit of scale.

This is a similar approach to the carving 'Lord of the Leaves'

Where the bark has naturally peeled back to give a great foundation for an interesting carving. By leaving as much of natures design to frame the woodwose I feel its a much more striking carving.

The contrast between the carved face and the rest of the piece is quite striking. this fella stands out from quite a distance.

In Celtic myth, the hawk was the symbol of freedom and success.

In heraldry, the hawk is the symbol of tenacity in the pursuit of an object of desire or the accomplishment of a mission. The hawk is also an emblem of fidelity, for with few exceptions, the hawk has one mate for life. It is therefore a strong Celtic symbol. Surrounded by Futhark runic symbols leaving a medieval feel to the carving.

Finished in Danish oil with the possibility of hanging either indoor or out, this carving is a lovely piece that may stay away from the Folksy Shop just like the 'Lord of The Leaves' has.

your comments are as always welcome.

~Dave~