Butterflies & Blossom Necklace Hand carved in English Lime wood. 11.5cm / 4.5in.
Inspired by the work of Grinling Gibbons the necklace is extreme in its relief with a couple of the butterfly wings extending up to 3cm / 1.2in out from the flowers.
To finish the piece I simply brushed oil onto the butterflies to enhance the contrast with the blossom flowers. https://www.instagram.com/p/CUIPndNqphI/?utm_medium=tumblr
Still very much a work in progress and going through the inevitable ‘ugly duckling’ phase that all of my carvings seem to go through before they’re finished. My ambition with this ‘ode to Grinling Gibbons’ (yes, I know it’s not the most imaginative working title!) is to make it the most dramatically three dimensional necklace I’ve carved yet. I really want the flowers and butterflies to seem to hover, weightless below the wearers collar bone… hopefully you can see this concept slowly emerging through the wood, as rough as it clearly is!!