http://www.akemancreations.co.uk/

Akeman Creations, Rushcliffe Grove, East Leake (2026)

26/02/2024

Having a large very white area of bathroom wall that was glaring in its emptiness I thought to write a two foot high poem on it. I've still to remove the guidelines and smudges etc but otherwise it is complete. It proved to be very difficult to write neatly on a vertical surface but it nevertheless pleases me. Written by Roger McGough (of Scaffold fame) and one of my favourites it narrates the point of view of a bristlecone pine. These long lived trees are high in the arid part of the US Rockies, especially California and Nevada. To the naive they appear dead with a sparse covering of bark. Remarkably a leaf of this tree can live for decades. Methuselah was of course the oldest lived man mentioned in the bible (969 years). The life span of these trees is several thousands of years. Here is a link to a lovely youtube video about them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4dCTLQ2Y2M
It is stated that the location of the oldest bistlecone is kept secret to protect it from vandalism. Incidentally a bristlecone tree reportedly stands on a ledge of a mezzanine exit from the "Clock of the Long Now" project. This mechanical giant clock has been designed and built to run reliably for 10,000 years, It is housed in a hollowed out mountain (I believe it is able to be viewed by the public by arrangement and to read the time the viewer has to "wind" the clock). Of note is that its construction was funded by Jeff Bezos of Amazon fame. I will very likely never see a bristlecone tree or the Long Now clock but having bought things via Amazon gives me some sense of connection in that my pennies have been used in building the mechanical wonder and that it is appropriately so close to the trees.

25/12/2023

I made this single flower stem vase today. Not exactly a Christmas present but for someone who through life's sometimes dreadful experiences deserves some TLC. Like me she loves interesting wood objects. There is an inscription on the stone base along the left hand side of its edge that reads "Dum Spiro Spero". This is sometimes found on the lintel of house entrance doors. It is Latin and translates as "While I breathe I hope". The vase's wooden body to me resembles a female form and such archaeological artifacts are always associated with the life giving force and rebirth. Any flower in the vase might then be thought to be given life by the water within the vase body. To add to the symbolism there is a fossil on the underside of the stone base above which life still emerges. Incidentally, the rose is plastic and just for the photo, it should instead have a real daffodil or bluebell each of which symbolise hope.

09/12/2023

So here is a novel creation for me. I have obtained two slate slabs about five feet long. One is broken but in the vein of Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing objects in a way that retains their history rather than hiding it, I will make the join very visible. The other slab has one long edge and its two ends bevelled and suggests that it would then be comfortable to sit on. I therefore thought to make it into a bench/seat. The back and sides will be wood. I particularly would like the back to be one piece but naturally attractive with the top and bottom edges as they were cut from the tree. All I need to do now is source that. It has been too wet to get into my wood to fell anything this year and until we see a good period of dry weather the project will have to wait its time.

21/10/2022

Here is another interesting carving that I made several years ago. It was a small plank of oak that had a split at one end. Looking at the flaw I could see that it had the makings of a pair of clasped hands. It didn't require much to fashion it into that shown in the picture and it became a gift to my then partner. The gap between the hands nicely held a heart shaped white pebble (just visible) that she had given to me. The piece then of course symbolising her heart in my hands. The carving sat perfectly in the corner of the wood stove alcove as it still does today. As you journey through life there are times when some things, either physical or emotional, are required to be left behind. This is one thing I will keep with me.

20/09/2022

A long time in the making but here is the first 'commercial' version of our Faery Princess throne. It began as did the others by stripping the bark off a suitable stump, chosen for its attractive undulations. With the bark off, the handiwork of a wood beetle revealed itself as channels in the stump's surface. Once cleared of the remnant chewed wood I realised that the channels could be thought of as the throne's magic symbols that only it's Faery Princess could understand. Remarkably among these symbols were the shapes of animals that naturally fell to being those animals which the Faery might transform into. All of the channels I made to stand out by painting them green. The natural shrinkage cracks in the stump I filled with white filler to give it additional interest. One beetle hole looked like a heart and it then gave me the idea to add two more hearts by slightly carving the edges of two other round holes. One of the hearts was painted red to represent her own whereas the other two were painted one black and one blue. These latter two respectively represented a suitor to her that was not a Faery Prince while the other was that of her intended true love. The imagined purpose of these two was to glow appropriately when a suitor was in attendance. Initially I wasn't going to write anything on the rear of the throne's back but instead, to explain the symbols etc, I thought to simply write an accompanying card. The words though soon developed into a poetic spell and I just had to write them on the throne. This magic imbued piece will soon be taken to The Gardener's Bothy at Staunton Harold and would make a lovely present for a deserving Faery Princess.

20/08/2022

What a lovely pastime it is, making children happy! This second faery princess throne is for my granddaughter's elder cousin that apparently adores my granddaughter's but doesn't have one of her own so this will be a lovely surprise for her. It does give me the chance though to develop the process of making them as, for example, I now know the most efficient and effective method of filling in the cracks in the seat so that it will remain a solid piece. I have also been able to experiment with colouring the filler and here appropriately to be pink. Racking my brain I also managed to find some cork hearts I had put away a few years ago. I have fastened double sided tape to a handful of these so that she can enjoy sticking them at the ends of the six flower stalks that branch from the main stem of the plant that is drawn on the back. These thrones are not quick to make and will never make me financially well off, but the woodcraft enriches my life in a so much more satisfying way!

13/07/2022

Here is an interesting piece. It is a carved picture frame that I made several years ago but that became unused and that I have just now rediscovered and will make use of again. The flowers and leaves are in relief (ie they stick out) whereas the faux leather plaited border is painted on. I deliberately painted the leather border to appear as if it was cut into when carving the left hand flower. I also chose to fade it out half way along the top to add interest and so that it would not dominate the frame. The colours of the flowers are a lovely pastel and are more of a wash than an overcoat with the result that the straight grain lines of the wood are still visible. Being water based the colours ran nicely to soften the edges of the flowers but that nevertheless tease the eye with the contrast of the flowers being carved. The years have seen small parts of the carvings break off but I decided against repairing them as I felt it spoke to nature's cycle of aging alongside rebirth. Not a high quality piece but all the more beautiful for that and with a rustic charm.

06/06/2022

Inspired by the fairy princess throne for my granddaughter I intended to produce some to sell. Looking for oak planks in my stock that had suitably interesting flaws I came across one that clearly had a flaw that spoke of a fairy's two wings. Another small flaw formed the flower in her hair while incredibly the accompanying grain had the outline of her face, hair, body and skirt. The oak 'figure' even suggested the fingers of one hand as well as her facial features. In producing such wood art, by adding enhancing lines, I consider that I am revealing the image rather than wholly creating it. Having finished the artwork side, I think I should sell it as a freestanding piece of art rather than as the back of a throne. The time gone into producing it would price the complete throne too highly for the potential purpose of a garden ornament or a little girl's treasured possession. I will though produce a few better priced thrones.

18/05/2022

A fairy princess throne for my granddaughter, soon to be two. The stump's waviness is reminiscent of a drape so I gently worked it to improve that sense. Intriguingly I had thought to paint the sides purple as that is the colour of royalty but with the bark removed it revealed something naturally purplish. I just therefore varnished it with a special diamond hard but crystal clear varnish so as to not taint it orange that cheaper varnishes will do. The top of the seat exposes some wonderful spalting in the trunk and it almost looks as though the drape has gold embroidery. The back is a piece of oak with an interesting flaw at the top and an indentation of bark down one side. I scalloped the other side to mirror the bark indent and add more interest. To help to spark my granddaughter's imagination and add an air of magic spells I wrote an inscription in Welsh on the rear. It so happened that the tail of the last letter flowed nicely into the start of the flaw in the wood making the words seem all the more to be an integral part of the throne. Doesn't it look lovely against the flowers. Diolch yn fawr.

28/11/2021

'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!' as the song goes. This photogenic flower is posing at The Gardener's Bothy and is one of four just delivered there this afternoon. I also gave them one more mushroom and was told the six mushrooms I took there a fortnight ago had all gone already so I don't expect this extra one to hang around. The flowers take longer to make than the mushrooms as they have more parts and therefore more steps in their production. I try to be efficient as possible by minimising the work but for this lot I couldn't resist adding one small component just for its aesthetics! It's what comes from being a perfectionist even for art but by the time I had returned home nature had trounced me with her roses in the snow piece. Simply beautiful.

Akeman Creations

26/02/2024

25/12/2023

09/12/2023

21/10/2022

20/09/2022

20/08/2022

13/07/2022

06/06/2022

18/05/2022

28/11/2021

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