Books and Clay

I started woodcarving classes in October 2012 with a view of doing something different and I find it very therapeutic albeit there are times I'm not able to do much as I still have wrist problems and find it difficult to hold the tools.  I decided to carve a seahorse and the tutor decided it should be two seahorses with seashells.  Unfortunately, Mike (the tutor) died last February but Arthur stepped in and took the class over so the carving is finally finished.  The classes run between October and March each year and below are some photos showing it at different stages. The wood used is lime which is nice and soft to carve.  Seahorse number one (top left) was mainly carved by Mike and I was working on the top right seashell when he died: Seahorse number two is away to be carved and have some scales - he lost some soon after ! Last week, the carving was oiled with lemon oil and was taken off the MDF backing board - this is the before and after: ...

It's 18 months since I last posted so I obviously broke that New Year's resolution!  Of course, in that time, Blogger has changed and moved some of the settings etc so I'm trying to figure out where things are. Life has been a bit hectic since my last post plus the PC slowly died (again) but it's now up and running.  It always seems to die at the most inconvenient time e.g. trying to order a bathroom suite! So quick update on life in the last 18 months: I originally created this blog to show many of my weird and wonderful pottery creations.  I stopped pottery about four years ago as I had other commitments that clashed and when I could return, I discovered that the classes ceased.   Hopefully, I can take it up in the future if it returns. Thanks to a wrist problem, I haven't crocheted for at least a year.  I actually miss it especially during the winter months as that's when I tend to do most of the work.  I'm hoping to...