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Every Thursday evening in term time at Mary Webb School 7 - 9pm

The second Saturday of each month 10am - 5pm at the same venue

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The Resurrection

An inspirational sculpture by woodcarver Steve Worrall from a design made by a pupil from

Carved from solid oak, the sculptured cross entitled The Resurrection has been inspired by artwork created by the pupils of Shrewsbury Catholic Cathedral Primary School. The cross, weighing 32kg and measuring 110cm has been fashioned by club member Steve Worrall and gifted to the school in celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee. The cross was recently installed and unveiled at a jubilee prayer garden created at the school and blessed by Canon Chris Matthews of Shrewsbury Cathedral.

At the front of the cross is a carved scroll bearing the inscription INRI which in Latin represents - Iēsus Nazarēnus, Rēx Iūdaeōrum that translates to Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews. The crossbar carries the letters - A and Ω, representing alpha and omega which are the first and last letters, respectively, of the classical Greek alphabet. Thus, the phrase "I am the alpha and the omega" is interpreted by many to mean that Jesus has existed for all eternity.

The school motto AVA MARIA (Hail Mary) is inscribed at the base of the cross, together with the school crest, bearing the character representative of Saint Mary, integrated into a Syrian cross.

On the reverse of the cross the year of the Platinum Jubilee (2022), in Roman numerals - MMXXII is carved at the head. The heraldic crest of the Diocese of Shrewsbury can be found at the base of the cross. The crest bears an inverted leopard’s head and lily flower (fleur-de-lis) set into the red cross of Saint Chad. The leopard and lily (known as Jessant-de-lys) are derived from the crest of Saint Thomas Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford. The leopard in heraldry symbolises the royal arms of England and the lily signifies the Virgin Mary.

The most important element of the cross is not that, that can be seen, but that that cannot be seen. Central to the cross is the golden edged outline of Christ.

The Queen's 70 year Jubilee

Love Spoon project challenge

Anna Turner Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire visited Shropshire Woodcarvers on Thursday 5 May to view the Queen's Jubilee spoons carved by the group

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Members of Shropshre Woodcarvers hard at work in the Mary Webb School workshops

Retired professional woodcarver Mike Painter accepts honorary membership of the club and agrees to provide advice and guidance on woodcarving at selected monthly Saturday workshops. The most recent session was on how to carve eyes. Mike will return for a follow up session at the club's May meeting.

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Mick's obsession with carving spoons continues

Mick uses lime or spalted lime for his spoons and uses a mix of ground coffee and sunflower for the finish. He has used the technique of KOLROSING to pattern some of his spoons and will be giving a demonstration and workshop of this method at the June Saturday session.

Mick explains that Kolrosing is basically tattooing wood, a sharp knife is used to incise the design into your subject be it wood. jewellery or any carving requiring the application of fine detail. Once the design is cut it can be stained with various pigments. Traditionally coal dust mixed with oil was a staple for hundreds of years, more recently cinnamon or coffee finely ground and mixed with oil is a good alternative. The coffee leaves a dark brown finish whilst the cinnamon results in a very dark black stain. 

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The origin of kolrosing is a Scandinavian (long dark winter nights!) art and is a close 'relative' of scrimshaw which is scribing designs into bones and ivory.

FREEDOM

View the contributions to Stewart's Freedom carving challenge set at the beginning of the first lockdown in March 2020. Further contributions welcome

This end piece comes from the Western Australian Guild of Carvers most recent copy of Chips courtesy of Bob Svendsen October 2020

Ready to snap?
 

Life can get a bit much at times. Occasionally, you just need to find something to take your mind off all the worries and give yourself a deserved break from life’s travails. It doesn’t help that this can stunt your creativity when you may well need it to move forward in life. One way you can achieve this is by picking up a piece of wood and decent knife and begin carving. If you didn’t know it already; there is something about creative activities that will place you in a relaxed zone and clear your mind of stressful thoughts. Woodworking or wood carving can be described as a “Whole-Brain” activity as it makes use of both the practical side of your brain in trying to realise what the creative mind has come up with. Also described as a state of “Flow” by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi , a perfect immersive state of balance

between skill and challenge, whilst using your body to make it happen.