All my Ark sets are hand-made in the workshop at the bottom of my garden. The Ark Set in Mixed Woods is a collection of 12 pairs of animals whose character is best expressed by the rounded forms and natural decorative qualities of the woods. The Ark set is a library of woods, mostly locally sourced. Among those I use are pitch pine, black walnut, apple, pear, magnolia, sapele, sycamore, oak, yew, cherry. sourced. The Ark is made from ‘clearer and better’ Columbian pine, and a roof and the house lift off. The set is finished in beeswax which serves to enhance and protect the surface of the different timbers. With each ark I include a list of the woods in that particular set. Through handling, the collection becomes a means of identifying the different woods.
“Hand carved, my wooden whales are tactile and painted in realistic colours.”
David uses local sustainable wood chosen for its lightness and smooth finish, transforming the blocks of wood into simple but instantly recognisable whales, using as few cuts as possible before refining the shape and finishing these whales off with mirror finish paintwork. “It’s all about economy of design,” he says.
