The
DOODLEWOOD CHAIR
by
Mark John Fitzgerald Jones
Born London
19.02.1964
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www.botpots.co.nz go to blogsite‘old post’
email ; jwebster@xtra.co.nz
mobile 0212552686
I started my wood carving career back in 1984, carving wooden rocking horses for a company named Stevenson Brothers, and had sixteen enjoyable years working for them.
I had the pleasure of carving a rocking horse for the late Princess Diana, for Princess Beatrice and I was involved in the making of a 12 horse carousel for the Sultan of Brunei, just to mention a few.
In my spare time I hand carved wooden House signs, which were very popular in the UK.
I had my own workshop in a village named Bethersden nr. Ashford Kent and then I had
quite an involvement in Church carving, which was mainly using English Oak.
In 1996 I started to lean more towards Contemporary sculpture which excited me very much, having
gained a lot of experience in using an electric chainsaw over the years.
I suddenly realised that great shapes and forms were coming to me quite naturally.
After various types of sculpture were achieved, I set my sights a tad higher.
That year after a lot of thought, I decided to create ‘The Doodlewood Chair’.
This was mind blowing for me, I learnt so much whilst creating this Masterpiece,
This chair still stands proudly in the UK, its destiny as yet unknown. I have many ideas to where I would like it to be enjoyed, but these have not arisen as yet - who knows?.
I came to this beautiful country in February 2003, after a few years settling in I had met some amazing people who guided me in the right direction and through working for different Cabinet making companies. I gained a different type of woodworking experience.
Then in December 2010 I went to buy a bag of clay, stumbling across a shop named Botpots at Bishops Dunn place.
There I met the owner of the shop, Richard Rushton who was very much into my sculpture.
He offered me a place next to his shop, to carve and demonstrate my skills, using a Macracarpa tree trunk passed on to me through Habitat for Humanity. Thankyou Richard for believing in me.
Since Feb 2011 every Saturday I have been carving this trunk into a ‘Lovers bench‘.
Among other pieces including this chair, my chosen tool was actually a petrol chainsaw.
This is now my tool of choice for my sculpting.
Please take a look at my blog site and enjoy my work show cased so far in this new journey.
I would like to take the time to thank, Habitat for Humanity and not forgetting the team at STIHL.
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