Welcome

Little Stints (chestnut)

I started carving birds in wood after seeing a table full of them in a street fair in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1974. I can still remember the impact - and it has driven my work for over thirty years. I hadn't previously been much interested either in birds or wood, so it's hard to say why I was so affected. Since then though the appeal has been strong, to do with what's usually out of reach, a curved shape narrowing towards takeoff that fits the hand. And bird life offers such range, variety: a sparrow seems to me as far from an eagle as a mouse is from a wolf. And it's all around us in a world at once commonplace and mysterious. Then there's the magic of wood, tough stuff but willing to go with the carver's flow, seemingly with the warmth of growth still in it.

Redshank (lime, stained)

I'm fortunate to be working in north Wales, so rich in such varieties of bird life. Malltraeth, home of the inspirational bird artist Charles Tunnicliffe who died in 1979, is a place I visit often. The availability of driftwood for perches is vital too, since shorebirds are my favourites.