Alistair Park's wood carvings

Carving some marine plywood to make an interactive information board for Hartcliffe city farm in Bristol. Sometimes I find carving lettering by hand is quicker than using a router or other mechanical device. The ply is made from okoume wood and carves reasonably well with sharp tools, although it can be a bit 'chewy' on the endgrain and has a lot of silica in it that blunts tools quite quickly. The boards will be painted (which is probably my favourite part of the whole process!) and then installed at the farm, where visitors can interact with them. #hartcliffecityfarm #bristolwoodcarver #carvingplywood #woodcarving #woodworking #plywood #lettercutting #handcarved #bristol #interactivesculpture #signs #publicsculpture #bristolcityfarms

Young Groot is very excited and has been getting some dancing in before the 'Connections through Wood' show in Bristol, starting next Friday (the 22nd) and on until the 27th Nov at the Centrespace gallery in Bristol. By the way, that fluorescence is the natural glow of robinia wood under a blacklight: no enhancement or glow-the-dark paint was used. Why does it glow like this? I have no idea - pretty amazing though, isn't it. #iamgroot #marvel #guardiansofthegalaxy #fluorescentwoods #uvlight #blacklight #woodcarving #woodworking #woodart #bristolsculptor #centrespacegallery #thingstodoinbristol #amazingnature #robinia #dancing #bristolwoodcarver #fluorescenceinnature #lovetodance #mcu

Standing outside my workshop on a rainy day last week watching hundreds of house martins, even though none now nest in that courtyard. They had come from all over the local area and gathered on these power lines in the rain, ready to begin their long migration to sub-Saharan Africa. Now and again some squabbled amongst themselves or took off in little groups just to return again seconds later. You could feel the excitement as they all got ready to fly thousands of miles south. I went inside for half an hour and when I came out again they had all gone. Safe travels to you, little birds. #housemartins #britishbirds #migration #workshop #summervisitors #birds #wildlife #tougherthantheylook

Here's a sneak preview of 'Trophy', a new sculpture made for the 'Connections through Wood' exhibition which will be held in November at the Centrespace gallery in Bristol. The woods used are reclaimed mahogany, bleached lime and the horn is actually carved from hornbeam timber! If you are around Bristol in November, why not come and see it. I'll be showing alongside some incredibly talented woodworkers and it should be well worth a look. #connectionsthroughwood #centrespacegallery #bristol #bristolartist #reclaimedwood #lime #hornbeam #saburrtooth #makita #powercarving #powertools #skull #imaginarycreatures #unicorn #exhibitions #woodcarving #woodart #woodworking #huntingtrophy #bristolwoodcarver #sculpture

One of four films of me making stuff that are featured at 'We the Curious', a permanent interactive exhibition in Bristol's Millennium Square. Apart from this bit in an area devoted to creativity, surrounded by lots of animation-related exhibits courtesy of Aardman animation (home of Wallace and Gromit), the exhibition is mainly themed around learning about science and engineering in fun ways. This footage shows carving with traditional tools, then there are also ones showing carving with a hand held rotary tool (a Dremel), carving with an electric chainsaw and angle grinders and, lastly, woodturning on a vintage Myford lathe. I went along with the family and we had a great afternoon! We learnt quite a few things too, and got to hold some meteorites that are older than the Earth. Which made me very happy. #wethecurious #bristol #woodcarving #woodcarverslife #films #woodturning #exhibitions #thingstodoinbristol #interactive #woodcarversofinstagram #woodworking #bristolwoodcarver #traditionaltools #documentaryfootage

Here's a few glimpses of the making process for a recent sculpture of a Eurasian kingfisher. The bird is carved from tulip poplar wood with pewter feet. The base is reclaimed oak with a willow stick acting as the bird's perch. This willow stick is a bit special, as the pointed end shows where it has been chewed by a beaver that was living in the River Avon near Bath. The sculpture was painted with a combination of Jo Sonja acrylics and Humbrol enamel paints. The person who commissioned the kingfisher sculpture has written a book about his search for this wild beaver colony from which the chewed willow came. All proceeds from sales go to the Avon Wildlife Trust and the Beaver Trust. You can find it at: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/river-journey #kingfisher #birdsculpture #britishbirds #britishnature #wildlifecarvings #birdcarvings #woodcarving #paintedwoodcarvings #josonja #saburrtooth #makita #bristolwoodcarving #woodcarver #woodcarversofinstagram #beaver #woodart #riverjourney #book #rewilding #floodprevention

Another morning well spent in the stores underneath Bristol museum, researching Eurasian kingfishers this time! This place is incredible. The research is for another exciting commission: carving and painting a life sized example of one of these fascinating birds. Thanks very much to Rhian and Nick at the museum for their help. I'm enjoying doing some more bird carving at the moment and getting the paintbrushes out is always a pleasure. More news will be posted as the project continues... #kingfisher #bmag #bristolmuseumandartgallery #britishwildlife #woodcarversofinstagram #birdcarvings #paintedwoodcarvings #paintedwood #saveourmuseums #britishbirds #woodcarving #woodcarversofinstagram #bristolwoodcarver

For everyone else in awe of the incredible giant sequoias, here's a reel showing some of Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park as well as Grant Grove in the neighbouring King's Canyon National Park. Some of these big trees are more than three thousand years old. They only grow in about seventy three groves scattered along the western side of the Sierra Nevada in California, at altitudes between 1400 and 2150 metres (4600 - 7050 ft). After a certain time, the sequoias stop growing upwards and start to grow outwards, so the largest ones (which are the world's biggest trees in terms of volume) are, amazingly, still increasing in size every year. #giantsequoia #nationalparks #sierranevada #sequoianationalpark #kingscanyonnationalpark #incrediblenature #bigtrees #california #specialplaces #ancienttrees

The Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park, California. With woodpecker sounds! Home to some of the world's largest trees - the giant sequoias. Although they are massive and ancient, these enormous trees are threatened by increased numbers of wild fires and drought due to global warming. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to see them.

Here's part two of the pair of videos showing how I made the sculpture 'Moorland Meeting'. Wheatears are familiar birds to anyone who spends much time in the hills and moorlands of the UK. They can often be seen perched on gorse or rocks, looking around their surroundings. It was great to see this sculpture come together and a lot of people seem to love the snail! As mentioned previously, the sequoia wood was a bit special as it was an offcut from making the sculpture 'New Beginnings' for the artist Luke Jerram. The strong grain in the wood looked like layers in the 'stones', which I think worked very well. By the way, the Wheatear's name is apparently nothing to do with either cereal crops or their call. It comes from the Old English name for the birds that was inspired by their pale-coloured rumps and translates roughly as 'white backside!' I hope you have enjoyed watching these videos. #birdsculpture #woodcarving #reclaimedtimber #paintedwoodcarvings #wheatear #alistairpark #carvingswithstories #bristolwoodcarver #ukwildlife #britishbirds #wildlife #moorlandbirds #birds #snail #lukejerram #woodcarversofinstagram #woodart #sculpture #lifesize #wildlifecarvings #dartmoor #wood #commissions #birdwatching

Here's a glimpse of the process of making my latest commission, which was carved as a gift for a keen ornithologist who lives in Scotland. Wheatears are one of his favourite birds. This (life-sized) one has encountered a white-lipped snail and is deciding what to do next. This was the first project showing a life sized bird, which was painted to look realistic, that I have ever attempted. A lot of inspiration came from the work of British bird carver Mike Wood. Wheatears are birds of the moorlands and hills and I'm also fond of them after many, many walks on Dartmoor in Devon. The 'rocks' of the base are a bit special. They were made from pieces of redwood that were bits of offcut from making the sculpture 'New Beginnings' for the artist Luke Jerram (@lukejerramartist). Other timbers used were tulip poplar, reclaimed Indian ebony and box. The bird's legs are rebuilt pewter ones and the sculpture was painted using a combination of acrylics and enamel paints. Part two will be posted very soon. I hope you enjoyed a little look at this part of the making of the sculpture. #birdsculpture #woodcarving #woodworking #birds #snail #bandedsnail #ukwildlife #woodart #bristolsculptor #carvingswithstories #wheatear #britishwoodcarving #britishbirds #dartmoor #commissions #woodcarversofinstagram #moorlandbirds #lukejerram #reclaimedwood #reclaimedtimber #bristol #bristolartist #carvingsofbirds #paintedwoodcarvings #moorland #powercarving #whittling #knifecarving #wildlifecarvings

Here are some of the stages in making a recent sculpture of a blackbird. It was carved using a log cut from an oak tree that meant a lot to the client's mother, who had passed away. All of the sculpture uses this special timber, apart from the eyes and beak. The beak is boxwood, from a tree which grew in Devon. This timber suits more delicate carving, is pale in colour and so was very suited to this job. The eyes are a bit special. The client has always loved being on boats, indeed he worked on a volunteer lifeboat in the Bristol Channel for many years. Without telling him until he saw the finished sculpture , I carved the eyes from greenheart wood which was originally part of the Victorian lock gates into Bristol Harbour. The famous ship the SS Great Britain would have passed by next to this timber. They haven't been coloured, just a coat of gloss varnish applied. The rest of the carving was finished with Danish oil. I hope you have enjoyed seeing this glimpse into the making process. #blackbird #woodcarving #reclaimedtimber #reclaimedwood #birdcarvings #specialtree #oak #greenheart #boxwood #bristolartist #powertools #bristolwoodcarver #saburrtooth #arbortech #powercarving #traditionalskills #knifecarving #irwin #alistairpark #sculpture #wip #woodcarversofinstagram #commissions #birds #wildlife #britishbirds #bristolharbour #ssgreatbritain #woodinlay #unusualcarvings