V.T.O.S.

Kilkenny

My Experience Of Woodcarving

In

V.T.O.S. Kilkenny.

Hi my name is Thomas Byrne.

The first time I encountered wood carving was when I joined V.T.O.S. in Kilkenny on the 20^th February 2001.  I met Peter O’Carroll who is the wood carving tutor.

On my first day Peter showed me some photos of carvings that other students had completed to give me an idea of what can be carved in wood, which is all most anything. Then he let me come up with an idea for a piece that I wanted to carve myself.

The first stage of the process was to select the type of wood I wanted my carving done in.The second stage was to transfer my drawing to the wood.  This is done with carbon paper. You place the carbon paper down on the piece of timber that you have selected, and then you place the drawing of the carving on top of this.  You then draw the outline with a pencil. When this is done you remove both the drawing and the carbon paper from the piece of timber. It is now transferred and ready to use.

Peter will then show you where to start carving. This is a very slow process and may take several weeks, but the end product will be well worth it.  When I first went to the woodcarving I did not know any thing about carving but with Peters help I was amazed at what I achieved. The whole experience gave me a great sense of satisfaction.  I would recommend woodcarving to anybody. The feeling of working on a carving is one of peace, contentment and relaxation.          

To date I have made relief carvings of a wolf, a candlestick holder, a circular bar seat, stool tops, a mirror, a flowerpot stand, and an unusual picture frame. Several types of wood were used, like Beach, Elm, and Sycamore. Some of these can be viewed on the web site. All these pieces are very decorative objects in my home.