Western Inspiration
Reader John Williams took a trip to California last summer and when he got home, he built this piece. He feels it was inspired by the terrain he encountered on the trip. The light wood is maple that has has been infected with the ambrosia beetle and spalted. The rest is cherry, wenge and ebony.
"The whole concept of Ambrosia Maple is sort of interesting," says John. "Mainly, we think of ambrosia maple as the logs being brought out of the bottom of the Great Lakes. But occasionally, they are the product of the beetle. The lake variety always seems to turn reddish with finishing, while the land variety stays bright and light.
"When I built this piece, I found out the difference since the front panels stayed so light. The side panels are the lake variety, and they turned reddish."

If you'd like to contact John and ask him about the carved legs, we'll forward your e-mail.

The British Woodcarving Association

The annual general meeting of the British Woodcarvers Association will be at the National Memorial Arboretum on Saturday June 19th 2004. It will be followed by the annual National Exhibition, which will be open to the public from Sunday 20th June until Thursday 8th July. The BWA is an entirely voluntary organisation. No office holder is paid anything other than out of pocket expenses. The Association is managed by the eight elected members of the National Council.

For more information, e-mail John Sullivan.

To see some of the pieces entered in the 2003 competition (like Allan Mechen's wonderful piece Tranquility, at right), click here.
http://www.bwa-woodcarving.fsnet.co.uk/page8.html

Serenity by Allan Mechen

The Last Supper, Carving

This exquisite 17 foot relief carving of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper was commissioned in 1953 for the opening of The Upper Room Chapel in Nashville. Now, it can be viewed online by those who can't make it to Tennessee. Fifty craftspeople worked for fourteen months under the direction of sculptor Ernest Pellegrini to create the work. It was carved from linden (basswood) and walnut and is 17 ft. wide and 8 ft. high. The focal point of the carving is the figure of Christ. It has been said that in the original painting, the artist painted the saddest face in all the world. The carving captures the mood at the moment when Jesus is saying to his disciples, "One of you will betray me."

Visit the site to see a large version of this carving.