2025 got off to a busy start, both in the studio and out and about with some on-site projects. One of those projects was in Gloucestershire where Paul and I created a unique pine marten sculpture in the Forest of Dean…
ABOUT THE FOREST OF DEAN
The Forest of Dean is approximately 42 square miles of mixed woodland in Gloucestershire. It’s one of the UK’s few surviving ancient forests, although its use and purpose has changed many times over the centuries…
In medieval times it was a royal hunting forest. Later, it became a source of timber for the navy’s Tudor warships. Always evolving, by Victorian times it was a major site of industry.
Skip to the 20th century, and in 1938 the Forest was designated the first National Forest Park.
Today the Forest of Dean is a populare tourist destination and a working forest that produces sustainable timber.
It’s also a stronghold for nature with large areas of woodland and open space that are home to a wide range of wildlife.
PINE MARTEN SCULPTURE: THE BRIEF
So that’s the location, now what about the sculpture?
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) commissioned this project. They had a red cedar trunk that was felled as part of a native woodland regeneration project by Forestry England and wanted us to turn it into a sculpture that would raise awareness of Project Pine Marten…
PROJECT PINE MARTEN
If you’ve never heard of Project Pine Marten, don’t worry – neither had I until this commission!
A few years ago, Pine Martens were at risk of extinction in England and Wales. However, as a native carnivore, they could (and should?) have an important role in our ecosystem. Project Pine Marten’s goal was to help the pine marten population recover in places they used to inhabit. Between 2019 and 2021 GWT, Forestry England, Forest Research, Vincent Wildlife Trust, Forest Holidays and Woodland Trust came together to relocate 35 pine martens from Scotland to the Forest of Dean. This new population will eventually link up with a recently recovering Welsh population which will help ensure species’ survival in Wales and the south west of England for future generations. And so far, it’s a success! They know at least four litters have been born since the relocation, and hopefully there’ll be many more in future!
That’s the summary but if you want to know more, there’s a 15 minute video about the project at www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk/project-pine-marten.
STARTING THE PINE MARTEN SCULPTURE
So that’s the where and what… now the how!
Paul and I travelled to the Forest of Dean to work on this project together. When we arrived, we discovered we had a lovely piece of red cedar to play with. It’s a great choice of wood for a sculpture and will last for many years. We knew we were going to be carving a series of deep relief pine martens, and had a sense of placement. BUT! No matter what plans we have, timber can always hold some surprises that mean we need to be flexible. Sculptures like this always evolve too as we carve and assess, so before we started, we issued a challenge on social media to followers to guess how many pine martens would fit in. At this stage we didn’t know ourselves but guessed somewhere between seven and nine. If you haven’t seen the finished piece, how many do you think?
CREATING THE PINE MARTEN SCULPTURE
The first step for Paul and I was to decide how best to utilise the space within the timber. It’s important to have a balance where it’s not too busy but not too empty either. Our clients trusted us and let us do whatever we felt was best which gave us some flexibility.
One of the challenges with pieces like this is that they’re visible from all angles. This means that we’re thinking about how it looks all the way around, not just from ‘the front’. We wanted people to explore it in its fullness, so we added pine martens all around the trunk. We wanted it to reflect the behaviour of pine martens in the wild so we made it look like they were inhabiting a decaying tree stump.
Paul especially enjoyed studying the visuals of the the pine marten and the way they behave in a group. It was definitely fun carving them in a way that reflects their natural behaviours rather than as a stand alone single animal.
And as you’re about to find out, we fit in seven pine martens. And a bonus mouse!
AND MORE ABOUT THE MAKING!
The project took us three days in total, although the final day was really only some final checks and refining. Every commission has some challenges and some aspects that are fun and this one was no different…
Paul commented that he doesn’t do a lot of deep relief work so it was a fun challenge honing that skill on something so public. We don’t often get to work on sculptures together in this way, so we both really enjoyed that part too. That did present us with the (fun) challenge though of working out ways we could both work around the log in a productive way without tripping over each other! The Stihl ProCom was definitely a big help in being able to communicate while the saws were roaring!
What else made this an enjoyable project? Well, just keeping it real here…
It’s on a really popular dog walking route right next to Forest Holidays in the Forest of Dean. It was really nice having a cafe a short walk from the site as it meant we could get a decent breakfast and good coffee!
I say that with a smile, but actually, if you’re doing physical work in cold weather, things like that are an important part of taking care of yourself and setting youself up for success. Not that either of us ever says no to a good brew and breakfast though, even on an admin day!!!
VISITING THE SCULPTURE
If this blog has piqued your curiosity and you’d like to see the sculpture, you can find the exact location within the Forest of Dean using the following link: https://w3w.co/provoking.specifies.blocks
I also found this article about 8 Amazing Things to Do in the Forest of Dean which might give you some ideas for your visit: www.greatbritishbucketlist.com/forest-of-dean/. My sculpture isn’t on there – but maybe one day!!!
I hope you enjoyed the blog. Do subscribe if you want notifications about new blogs, and if you would like to commission a sculpture, please fill out the form at www.treecarving.co.uk/contact.
