Relief Carving Commission – Wren

Work began for the commission with a series of drawings -firstly to get to know Wrens and then re-worked  so that the image could be carved into a simple relief on the face of a large block of stone.

The idea was to have the wren image on one face of a large, natural looking boulder.  I visited the quarry a number of times to find the right dimensions and a suitable piece of stone.  Eventually I saw a lovely piece of stone, but it was much too large, so I arranged with the quarry for one end to be sawn off  and this gave me my block.

Once back at the workshop I began the carving.  Firstly the outline of the wren was drawn on the block, and then the background taken back.  Once this had been achieved, and smoothed flat, I then started shaping the wren, to give a more life-like feel.

Lots of sanding and the block was finished and ready for delivery.  Here it is on site being put into place.