Carved birds look as though they’re about to fly away
THIS week we talk to John and Marilyn Davies whose works are on display at Ffin y Parc, Llanrwst.
Q
Tell us about your family A
John’s brother, Gareth, in America, carves fish in wood and paints them.
Q
What are you best known for?
A
Realistic carved birds in wood, painted, that have been exhibited widely under the name Birds in the Wood.
We have been working together since 1974, developing our combined technique, refining our separate but complementary skills.
As mentioned the nearby River Clwyd is vital to their work as it supplies the driftwood for the birds’ perches. Back at the workshop, John uses a knife for carving the birds, keeping power tools to a minimum, then Marilyn burns the feather barbs on before painting, which as you can imagine can all take a long time!
Q
Tell us about your exhibition
A
It comprises thirty-three pieces, mainly life-size and John does the carving, Marilyn the painting. We favour shore-
birds like redshanks, curlew and sandpipers with long beaks that are calling’s arcs and have also produced a number of birds of prey for this exhibition. We began in the early 1970s after seeing carved birds in the USA. In the early days we sold our work at craft shows, moving on to shops and galleries as the shows became scarcer.
Q
When is it running from/ to?
A
On now, until Wednesday, October 7.
Q
What can people expect? A
To be intrigued and, hopefully, impressed. People often comment on the texture of the feathers which is achieved by burning tiny barbs with a pyrography pen. The driftwood settings are also a distinctive feature.
Q
Tell us five things which make your exhibition great? A
Carved wood is a rarity in these instant-everything days.
Our work is rooted in the locality, in driftwood sourced from the rivers Clwyd and Conwy which provides essential settings for the birds.
The birds are British, various, and many of them are in flight. The pieces fit easily in a domestic setting. A husband and wife team is unusual in art and craft. Q
Tell us what’s good about the venue A
Ffin y Parc Gallery is an elegant, beautifully appointed country house at ease with the Conwy woods, where art can feel at home. The light, airy rooms provide a stylish background to the pieces. All that and it has a superb coffee shop with outside seating too. Q
Who is your favourite artist and why?
A Charles Tunnicliffe was an Anglesey painter of bird life. He combined a free-wheeling ease with life-like precision and has provided us with valuable source material. Another inspiration was Norman Makinson who produced wonderful, richly coloured ceramic bird sculptures from his home in Denbigh. Q What piece of work are you most proud of and why? A The Merlin: it’s here but it’s about to take off! Q Tell us a little known fact about yourself: A Our art has been developed partly in America where we worked at various times, for three years. In Utah in the 1980s when John was a visiting poet teaching at Brigham Young University, Marilyn began translating
nineteenth-century Welsh Mormon texts for a professor with whom a working relationship persisted until last year. Q What’s next for you? What are you working on, or what do you plan to work on? A We’re continuing to produce our carvings and are hoping for publication of a book which highlights our birds.