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Monday, March 2, 2009

New Carving Reflects Kamakura Influences



Thank God for my reference library. Working on the little queen, I had this funny feeling that I've seen this shape before. Not Korean.....

I finally found it in "Masterworks in Wood: China and Japan, by the Portland Art Museum. It is Japanese, 12th - 13th Century. It represents a Shinto Deity. You can still see the tree trunk. That funny gesture of saluting while holding onto his pant leg breaks the formality with its quirkyness.

It's not so much that this inspired that. It is more like parallel play. Now that the little queen exists, they begin a dialog. Good to know there are other wonderful carvings and carvers out there.

2 comments:

Bob Tinsley said...

Patrick, it is nice to see other woodcarvers on the web. You've got what looks like a great project. How big is it, and what kind of wood? I'm looking forward to following your progress.

Bob Tinsley
http://flyingchips.blogspot.com

patrickgracewood said...

Hello Bob,
The carving is in Cherry wood, from a tree I cut down in the garden. The figure is 16 inches tall. The whole piece will be larger, the trunk becomes part of a castle tower. I've got it planned out mentally but need to draw it up and source the rest of the wood.

the initial drawings for it are under "the little queen wood carving". http://shadowsonstone.blogspot.com/2009/01/little-queen-begins.html