Drawing on the Domestic

Frances and I have finally been able to get to the Rodd to collect the wood we need for the construction of out installation. We met Roger, who taught us the basics of coppicing and a bit of the history of the estate. The woodland has been managed for hundreds of years and it is an ancient semi-natural broadleaved wood. The coppice wood is hazel, alder and sweet chestnut, and we began with some cutting of the smaller hazel, using a small saw and a billhook to take off the smaller branches. We collected those branches and carted them down the hill. We were lucky with the weather – it cleared up to be a beautiful sunny day!We then had a relaxing lunch and talked to two lithographers who were creating new work on the lithographic press in the barn. Then after lunch a long slog up the hill to the sweet chestnut wood. Roger used the chainsaw to clear some smaller trees and then cut them into the lengths we needed. We went back to the barn and were taught how to split the logs using a froe and a cleaving break! So learning lots of new terminology too! Lots of thinking to do about mortise and tenon joints and construction methods…. more to come soon when we return and start the construction!

Still freezing here in Wales, so we have not been able to get to the site. I have instead made a simple mock-up of the project idea. I’m sure it will be much more complex and change as we make it, but at least this is a start. When everything feels frozen and static, it is hard to think ahead to the frantic energy we will need to embark on this construction work! To the woods! We will coppice soon!