I love working in wood. I feel it has a warmth and lfe in it. The grains offer many shapes and images to uncover, and I get a feeling of connection to the wood when I am working it. The chisel has a great rhythm to it and is a lovely process, however I also enjoy the thrill of cutting 'huowge' lumps off with a chainsaw.

The Gem of the Roe trilogy, Dungiven was commissioned by Glenshane community. They asked me to carve three sculptures from a fallen beech tree. The three carvings depict a local myth.As the story goes, a chieftains daughter called Finvola was the pride of the clan. When a Scotsman Aongus asked for her hand, her father agreed, under the condition that if she died she would be buried in Dungiven; They went to Scotland together and after only one year, Finvola died. In his grief Aongus forgot her fathers request, and buried her under Scottish soil. Meanwhile back in Dungiven the Bean-Sidhes were wailing for for her loss. Her three brothers searched the clan, but nobody had died, so they knew it must be Finvola. They went to Scotland to find Finvola and brought her back to Ireland to be buried where she belonged.
I carved these with a chainsaw which was quite a challenge, but which I really enjoyed after I found the rhythm of the saw. It's amazing how fast you can work with it. I did some finishing with the chisels and a sander.

I've been lucky to work with a travellers group in Belfast to come up with designs for a totem pole situated in the Colin Glen forest park, and later three smaller pieces for their centre. They tried their hands at carving and show signs of being promising craftsmen.