The Jetty Gallery
John & Marilyn Davies
John Davies is a wood carver specialising in birds. The availability of driftwood for perches is vital, since shorebirds are his favourites.
His wife Marilyn does most of the painting. Stains are sometimes used rather than paints because, when rubbed, they provide gradations of colour. Overall he aims to balance between realism and woodiness. He prefers using gouges and chisels to power tools.
The rivers and coasts produce a good selection of driftwood between October and April when he harvests it.
John works on pieces for small rooms so mostly he looks for tight curves, interweaving whorls in which a lot happens in a small space. The sap in the wood has been sluiced out by the river so the wood doesn’t rot.