Peter started carving as a boy of 11 and has been learning ever since. He spent his working life as a Schoolteacher specialising, initially, in Physical Education moving on to teaching children with special educational needs.
Woodcarving has always been a passion with him but only as a hobby - mainly as
therapy and relaxation in his spare time.
He has, however, taught adults at local Adult Education Colleges for nearly 40 years.
Since his retirement from full time employment he has set up The Essex School of Woodcarving in his studio at home providing courses for carvers of all abilities mostly on a one day basis but also offering courses of any length according to demand. There are two other part time tutors and amongst the three of them around 200 people are receiving tuition at Colleges or Art centres in the area.
For the last three years he has travelled to the United States conducting seminars and talks throughout New England. He is also a founder tutor at the Mystic Carvers Retreat in Rhode Island.
In addition to his teaching commitments( including running courses for Craft Supplies Ltd in Derbyshire) he manages to do some carving of his own. His work has won National competitions and examples can be found in homes around the world as well as in many public places.
Although his particular love is to carve small - miniatures of all types, including netsuke
- he has recently been involved in producing two large carvings for the National Memorial
Arboretum in Staffordshire.
The first of these was a 2 ton full sized Polar bear for a memorial to the 49th Infantry
Division of the British Army and included 47 carved regimental badges.
The second, currently under construction, is a life sized Golden Eagle for the Berlin Airlift
Association. All this work has been carried out with a small team of enthusiastic members
of the British Woodcarvers Association of which Peter is the Chairman.
He has been a regular contributor to the Chip Chats magazine for many years writing a feature entitled "Thoughts from the English Countryside" - a general "rambling" about all things English and occasionally including something about carving!
In recent years he has been in regular demand as a judge of carving competitions around Britain. This has included all the different styles of carving and, as a consequence, has widened his knowledge and experience in the woodcarving field.
Peter firmly believes that "anyone can carve with the right approach and guidance and that it really must be a "fun" experience. Too many aspiring carvers are put off by too much technical, in depth detail and end up terrified to make mistakes. True pleasure and achievement will only come with a willingness to experiment and, indeed to fail, once the necessary skills have been mastered. There is nothing wrong with aiming for excellence - it is to be applauded - but there is also nothing wrong with not attaining it. After all how many people ever do?"
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