Narritive Relief

One Altogether, Trinity Episcopal Church Table Carvings

Introduction

In November of 2006, a member of Trinity Episcopal Church, Columbus, Georgia, asked me if I would carve the history of the church into a new conference table that would be given to the church in memory of her parents. I was very pleased. I knew this was a project in which I could use my inner vision, spirit, talent, intellect, and skill to create a personal legacy that would live through time. I knew it would be an instrument of pleasure, knowledge, and teaching for the church, now and into the future. Furthermore, it would be the visual companion to the text story of the church's development, A Power For Good, written by Lynn Willowby (published by Trinty Episcopal Church.  Macon: Smyth & Helwys, 1999). I met with Tom Sherrell, table designer and builder, to complete the plan for a table that would harmonize with the Tudor style of the church and meet our clients' requirements for the use of the table. Then I began work on the drawings. On December 30th 2007, Tom had the panels ready for me to begin work. The last of the five panels was finished in November of 2008.

One Altogether is a narrative relief carving that documents the need, desire, determination, struggle, growth, joy, accomplishment, and transformation of the church from its founding in 1834 to the year 2000. The carvings tell the story of how a community of people came together as one to create a place of worship where all people are welcome; it is a story of companionship, mutual effort, spiritual, emotional and physical support.  Each image in the carvings is a cameo that contributes its part to the whole, yet none of the cameos stand alone in telling the whole story, just as no one person created the church, but altogether acted as one.

Preparation and Concept Development

I spent ten months absorbing the history of the church and developing the drawings panel by panel. During that initial period, as I read Lynn Willowby's book, I compiled an outline detailing the development of the church, interviewed the church rector, Rich Martendale, and talked with church members. After much consideration, I divided the outline into four sections that would become four panels and gave each a single word title, like four chapters in a book. Those titles are: Genesis, Unity, Community, and Sacraments. The titles became my guidelines for the focus of each panel; they reflect the developmental history, and since the titles are carved on each panel, would assist a viewer in 'reading' the images in an historical context. Additionally, since this is a narrative relief, there had to be a story line with theme, action, setting, character, conflict, and resolution to engage the viewer. The overall theme is how the church became a community based on a set of beliefs, and the action is how it developed from the founding in 1834 to the present.

I mulled over different approaches to the carvings; I considered individual scenes in separate panels, but that would make the history stagnant and formal, would limit the type of images portrayed, and eliminate the sense of life and movement that make a story compelling. Additionally, time doesn't move in a straight line; time unfolds in a meshing of overlapping acts, feelings, and consequences. When we remember our past and think of our future, the images in our minds are always in motion and changing, like the shifting particles in a kaleidoscope. I wanted the images to be universal in content, but warm and personal. Therefore, I settled on a meshing of images as the most accurate way to portray the story and engage viewers.

I organized the panels in an horizontal and vertical arrangement: the left side of each panel shows images of the economic conditions that influenced the church in a particular time period, and the right side of each panel ends with a change or enhancement to the church structure. Between the two hallmarks are the activities of the church that define the members as a congregation, financial or other obstacles they had to overcome and how they did it, church legends, people who made significant contributions to the well being of the church, and how the church interacted with the community at large. The title, One Altogether, is taken from the Athanasian Creed: One altogether, not by confusion of Substance, but by unity of Person.

Table Specifications

The table is 11' 6" in diameter, a full circle. There are four carved panels, each 70" long x 17" wide and one quarter of the arc, and a 34" diameter center medallion identifying the church. The panels drop into a trough circling the table that is set 20" in from the outer edge of the table top - the clear 20" provides the writing surface. The panels sit 1/4" higher than the table surface, and overlap the edge of the trough by 1/4". The overlap covers the edge of the trough and allows for expansion and contraction of the wood within the trough. The carvings are not under glass because one of the beauties of woodcarvings is touching them, and people without sight would be able to enjoy them, too. As years pass, the areas where the carvings are touched will form a patina different from the untouched areas, a visual reminder of all who have passed this way, and of One Altogether. The wood is African Mahogany.

Development of the Drawings

After absorbing the history of the church, choosing the panel titles, writing the outline, and deciding on a visual approach, I began work on the drawings. I drew an 11'6" diameter circle on the floor of my studio, divided it into four pie shaped sections that would become the panels, and then transferred them by tracing the lines onto transparent paper. This step had to be exactly right because the arc had to be the same as that of the table. Once I had four, full size panels, I started on the drawings based on the outline. In addition to using images from Lynn Willowby's book, many of my images were made from segments of period photographs I found online, but cropped, stitched, or rearranged to fit a certain perspective or view. For instance, the processions of people moving into or out of the church were created by stitching, cropping, and rearranging photographs to suit the perspective, include or exclude figures, and make the line of people move in the right direction; I changed clothing to suit a time period, attended many Sunday services and special occasions, and had free access to the entire church to take photographs; my dog and me rode around the old town photographing mills, homes, trees, and the river (pleasant days with Florence). I scanned images from Lynn's book into my computer. Once I had assimilated a body of images, I began to apply drawings one by one onto the paper panels; I printed photographs or assemblages of photographs, traced them as line drawings, scanned them back into my computer, inserted them into MS Publisher, and printed them again, over and over and over again until I had the right scale and relationship between images. There is a foreground, mid-ground, and far-ground to create perspective and depth, and overlapping images show close associations between images.

Getting the size, shape, and relationship between images was the trickiest and most time consuming part of assembling the drawings. The images are not arranged in a linear fashion, they mesh together, some side by side, some overlapping bottom to top, and some receding into the distance, so that made the layout and the carvings even more difficult. A further difficulty was that the meshing had to be arranged in an ascending chronology. I also had to plan for how the panels would be viewed, especially the angle of view, the viewing distance, and available light.

I attached the images to the paper panels with tape so that I could move or replace an image if needed. Altering one image usually meant altering an entire area. After assembling a panel I had a copy made. I used the copy to trace the drawings onto the wood panels, leaving the original untouched. Each panel metamorphosed several times before I had a layout that satisfied my patrons and me. As I finished each panel, I met with Father Rich and my patrons to hear their input. I wanted them to be involved; they would love it more if they participated, and there was some information only they could provide. Their comments and suggestions helped me see the images with fresh eyes, strengthen weak areas, and include images I missed during my study of the history.

Converting drawings to carvings

I began work on the carvings by attaching the large drawing to a panel, then tracing the drawings in one area onto the panel. I roughly cut the depths, planes, and outlines. This was a very important and time-consuming step, particularly where the images overlap, because space had to be made for incremental steps cut into the surface of each image as well as image over image. For instance: in a side view heads are deeper than shoulders, seated bodies are deeper than knees, mouldings on buildings protrude from the building face, and figures overlap other images that have their internal levels.

I used perspective to create depth where there was not depth, as shown in the procession of people in the photo to the right - the figures seem to be emerging from behind the document, but are actually on the same plane. Objects on a table had to be within the table surface, not on the table edge, such as the altar behind the crowd, with its lower front shelf projecting and the flower vases on a deeper plane.

After the initial tracing and rough cutting of outlines and depth, I reapplied the drawing, traced the inner lines of
the images, removed the drawing, cut the planes within each image, and began modeling them. In the photo to the left, one can see the tracings in the bottom right corner.

Technique

The style of the carvings is Regionalism, an American Art Movement in the 1920's and 1930's, which focused on the daily lives and activities of the common person. The best known artists of the movement are Thomas Hart Benton and Lamar Dodd.

To prepare myself technically for this intricate narrative relief, I attended the Geisler-Moroder Woodcarving School in Austria for two weeks in May of 2007. The school is in Elbignalp, Austria, in the Tirol Mountains of west Austria. I felt the classes in clay modeling and anatomy would be especially useful; clay modeling would enable me to explore images prior to carving them in the panels and anatomy would assist me in carving the many physical attitudes of the figures. Additionally, the school had a tool store with an extensive selection of carving tools from the best makers in the world; since I could handle the tools prior to purchase, I could select tools to fit the project. Not only did I learn what I needed for this project, but also being with woodcarvers from all over the world was an inspiration. Additionally, the pristine mountainscape of Elbigenalp was like a muse for my spirit and my hands as I worked by the big window adjacent to my bench.

The finish is Old Masters Dark Mahogany Wiping Stain cut 50%, followed by a single application of bleached shellac, cut 30%, which I sealed with two applications of a fine, penetrating oil (not Tung Oil). I applied two coats of a paste wax composed of carnauba, beeswax, and candillia wax as a final sealer and polish.

Assessment

The strongest factors in the success of One Altogether were the months of careful planning, and the support, encouragement, and participation of the patrons. For ten months I totally immersed myself physically, emotionally, and intellectually in the preparation, explored the imagery using clay, pencil, and wood, spent two weeks studying in Austria, and knew exactly what I was doing before I made the first cut. As a result, the carvings flowed from my hands in a most satisfying manner, without conflict, confusion, or doubt. Adding to my satisfaction in the work itself are the smiles of delight and appreciation on the faces of my patrons.

The table will always be a part of the church, a reminder of the heart and spirit of the people who founded and fostered Trinity. It will not be sold, traded, or discarded, and the carvings will grow in beauty as years pass. The work of my hands, spirit, and intellect will always be cherished.