St
Bonaventure Carving by Mark Carroll
Mark Carroll is an
American carver I came across on the net on http://www.thesculpturestudio.com
Do look him up, he does some
interesting stuff. The following has been taken
from his web site
This page documents the stages in the creation of a woodcarving of the
12th century scholastic theologian and teacher, St.
Bonaventure. The statue,
hand-carved in basswood and standing four feet in height is a commission
for St. Bonaventure Church located in West Seneca, NY
He was born in
Italy in 1221 with the baptismal name, John. It is
thought that, as a child, he was cured from a grave illness
through
the intercession of St. Francis.
His admiration for the saint
led him to join the Franciscans. He changed his name to Bonaventure
upon entering the Order of Friars Minor in 1238. He continued his
studies at the University of Paris with the founder of the Franciscan
School.
In 1257, he was elected Minister General of the
Friars
Minor. Bonaventure was requested to write a
"legend" of St. Francis,
which became the saint's official biography. The study of the saint
deepened his own mystic life, as expressed in his writing "Journey of
the Mind to God."
The degree of Doctor of the Church was
bestowed on him and Thomas Aquinas in 1267. Six years later,
he was
created Cardinal-Bishop of Albano by Gregory X. He died on July 15, 1274
Bonaventure was canonized in 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV. |
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Tightening the clamps on the
3 3/4" wide basswood boards. |
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The finished 4' high block ready for
carving |
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After
gluing on a few more blocks for the arm and hat, I begin carving.
As I remove more wood, the forms begin to appear.
The large forms must be established first before any details can be
added. |
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Proportional calipers are used to scale
the 3' maquette up to the 4'
woodcarving. I also modeled a full-size head in clay to to help
accurately carve the details of the face. |
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The hand is added
separately so that the wood grain is going in the direction of the fingers.
The roughing-out is completed, the large forms have
been blocked in, the smaller areas can now be established.
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The sculpture is nearing completion. It is time to concentrate on
the details in the hands and face. |
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The last chips have been shaved off and the carving is completed. |
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I sanded the face and hands, but left the chisel marks on the rest of
the figure for texture and retain the character of a woodcarving. |
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Thin
layers of oil paint were applied, then whipped away to give the
appearance of a stain, allowing the wood grain to show through
color. |
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After the oil paint dried, I applied a coat of paste wax for a hand rubbed finish. |
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The statue is installed in the church. |
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After the
dedication ceremony (July 14, 2000),
parishioners come up for a closer view. |
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