This is the traditional Christmas holly, native to Western and Southern Europe. One of Britain’s few evergreen trees, it can grow as tall as 25 metres and live for 500 years.

My preference is for the straightforward and obvious, and to make things that I hope people will find attractive. I like to be expressive, not of myself, but of what the thing is meant to represent; and to do so in a way that makes the best use of the material and what it allows you to do.

The piece is carved in Portland stone, a good medium for relief carving and for lettering, either incised (v-cut) or raised.

441 x 330mm