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 | The Project The St. Edwards project was commissioned by the St. Edwards Catholic Church of North Plains, Oregon. Kelley Stadelman, church member, felt the need to tackle another LARGE carving, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity. Having extensive carving experience, she realized that proper preparation and research were a must, for a project of this magnitude. Kelley’s husband Bill, went on a road trip to Minnesota to procure the basswood for the project. Kelley researched clothing styles from the period in history, took photos of posed models, and began working up preliminary sketches. |
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Studies of period clothing styles |
| Research Phase Doing the proper research will always produce better results. Several weeks were spent gathering data. |
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Photos of posed models for proper stance and posture (Ross and Annabelle)
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Wood blanks roughly carved for armature that clay will be applied to.
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| Sculpting the Model |
Have the patience to model your project, prior to carving. St. Edward is pictured carrying a cripple. Two separate wood blanks must be built, carved and eventually joined together. In order to get the proportions correct, Kelley chose to sculpt the project in firm, oil based modeling clay. She started by carving a roughed out version of both figures, in wood. This became the armature (framework) for the clay model. The resulting clay model is 19” tall and 13” wide. When carved, St. Edward will stand 4.5’ tall, and will be mounted on a 2’ base, for a total height of 6.5’
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| Making the Pattern Create a Pattern Using Light
Many obstacles occur when developing an idea for a large project. It is very difficult to draw a large project with out distortion. Drawing multiple orientations, (front view, side view, birds eye view) becomes even more difficult keep the project in proportion. Do your first drawing at a comfortable size and sculpt this project at a manageable size. Using the sculpted image, set up a Light source over your project and cast a shadow onto a paper and draw along the shadow to create your pattern. Take that pattern to a copy machine with the ability to expand images. Increase the pattern to the desired size. The following diagrams will help you avoid some inherent problems using shadows to create patterns. A penumbra is a shadow which is a distortion of the actual project. The diagrams below show that the smallest penumbra is desirable. That is accomplished by drawing B, which has the light source far away from the object, and the object close to the paper. Drawing D will produce distorted proportions. Drawings A and C will produce fuzzy lines. |
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| Building the Blank All wood used is prime quality basswood from Minnesota: wood is very light in color and weight, and carves excellently. The lumber is planed and sanded before gluing. This produces a huge amount of hamster bedding. Many bar clamps are used to reduce glue seams and gaps between boards. Husband Bill applies glue to both pieces of wood, them slides the wood around a bit, before final positioning and clamping. This produces an occlusive seal, resulting in minimal glue lines and gaps between wood. This view shows the body blank of St. Edward, with the clay sculpture in the foreground. St. Edward’s head will be carved and mounted separately. |
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| Carving and Tools Kelley is shown using Stubai mallet carving tools, for the initial roughing out of the project. While she might use some Flexcut palm tools in the final detail phase of carving, Kelley will probably carve the majority of the project using the Stubai tools. They have excellent steel and very good handles.
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Sandpaper will not be used on this project: the surface will retain all the tool marks. Kelley bangs away at the carving using a 20 ounce mallet, while wearing a wrist brace to keep from overextending the wrist. Repetitive motion injuries are common with carvers who produce large works. Preventive medicine is the best, in this case. This project is producing large quantities of wood chips: anybody need any fire starter?. Kelley is shown (below) opening up the inside of the crown.
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The second portion of the project has begun. The blank was assembled by Bill, from the same great quality basswood as St. Edward. This blank is constructed from 3 major sections with the grain adjusted for ease of carving. When completed, this piece will be a sick person being carried by the St. Edward carving.
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Kelley's mother, the lovely and talented Jean, assists in some human figure studies. This helps provide an anatomically correct carving. Note the hand positions and center of gravity. |
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It is now time to begin designing how the 2 pieces of the project will be joined. Height and angle are extremely important for a realistic pose... |
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| Joining the 2 Figures |
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Bill Stadelman builds a platform / framework for supporting the 2 pieces, together. Kelley's mother, Jean, was growing weary of holding the 100 pound person up to St. Edward, while Kelley carved the join area. |
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| Painting and Finishing |
Kelley: I chose a color of paint that mimicked the medium tone of all the laminated wood pieces in the statue. The entire surface of the project was painted that color. To create more drama, I then shaded the deep areas first with a paint of the same tone but with a slightly darker value. This shading process was repeated with a second even darker value. I than highlighted the higher areas with a paint with a lighter value of the base color. These colors will not really even be recognized after antiquing, however, they will give a great deal more depth to the project. The lighting in the church is mixed, (natural and artificial), and changes depending on the time of day. By increasing the drama of the painting, the shadows and high areas will always be seen. |
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| The Eyes |
The eyes were painted using the same methods described in Wood Carving Illustrated issue#30 Spring 2005 article, written by Kelley Stadelman. This process was modified to be monochromatic, using only shades of colors that were derived from the original base coat. |
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It was felt, by some observers, that the unpainted eyes of St. Edward appeared to be blind. By painting the eyes, additional emotion was brought out of the face, making for a more pleasing overall effect. |
| The Base |
The Base platform is a 2 foot tall octagonal platform, constructed by Bill Stadelman, that is internally reinforced to support the weight of the carving. It's outer surface is constructed of 2" thick northern white pine. Kelley has carved it into a faux stone masonry effect, and is painted and finished in the same manner as the St. Edward carving. |
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The 3 pieces of the project: St. Edward, the sick person, and the base are about to be miraculously joined together... |
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Words hardly do justice to the final piece. After more than a year of work, St. Edward the Confessor stands approximately 6 feet tall. |
| The Finished Project |
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 St. Edward was successfully moved to his new home, St. Edwards Catholic Church in North Plains, on the weekend of Dec. 10th. A formal dedication ceremony will take place Dec. 30th |
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