This rocking horse was made by a friend of mine for his beautiful little daughter, with whom he lives alone. He also helps me regularly with my stone-carving jobs, and you can see why I ask him to. I knew he had made a horse for her, but it was only when I borrowed his camera recently that I knew what it looked like. Remember the post about how we - as young children - thought our dads could do anything? I wonder if his girl will become disillusioned when she grows up?
Sunday, 7 November 2010
Happy Birthday
This rocking horse was made by a friend of mine for his beautiful little daughter, with whom he lives alone. He also helps me regularly with my stone-carving jobs, and you can see why I ask him to. I knew he had made a horse for her, but it was only when I borrowed his camera recently that I knew what it looked like. Remember the post about how we - as young children - thought our dads could do anything? I wonder if his girl will become disillusioned when she grows up?
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Fabulous work. I love the way the rockers converge.
ReplyDeleteWow! That's stunning and what a Dad, Happy Birthday to the little lady! x
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful piece! Hopefully the rocking horse will remind her how talented her Dad was if she does become disillusioned.
ReplyDeleteI would imgine that that rocking horse will stay etched in her mind forever.
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful.
That dad can surely do anything. It's a wonderful, wonderful horse.
ReplyDeleteA labour of love - fabulous!
ReplyDeleteIt is all carved wood, with hair attached. He recently made the figurehead for a large yacht, and thought he would do a wooden horse, having got used to the material. He specialises in stucco modeling - all those intricate plaster ornaments on 18th century ceilings? he does that - direct to the ceiling - in wet material, using a spatula. He is one of the most talented modelers I have ever met, and he now shares my workshop, so I have him on tap!
ReplyDeleteI adore rocking horses and that is a superb speciman. I never had one as a child, (nearest I got to it was a metal Mobo horse on wheels). Some people want to be train drivers or astronauts when they grow up, I just want to make rocking horses. Do you think your friend would like an apprentice?
ReplyDeleteI doubt it Sue.
ReplyDeleteI ought to qualify my negative response, Sue. There is (outside of Disney) no such thing as a dedicated rocking-horse carver, as far as I am aware. There is no such thing as an apprentice to a rocking-horse carver master, either.
ReplyDeleteIf, however, you would like to give me £50,000, I will teach you how to carve rocking-horses, and I estimate the course to last for about one year.
What a wonderful rocking horse - brings to mind the rocking horse I had as a child. Dobbin was his name and I still remember the day I came home from school to find he had been sold. I must have been about five as we moved to another house shortly after. I can still feel the loss looking at your photo. He wasn't as grand as that one though.
ReplyDeleteOh, poor you, Susan Heather. I feel for you. I - to this day - call all horses 'Dobbin'. Are your parents still alive, having survived the financial crisis, or are they burning in hell right now?
ReplyDeleteThat is the rocking horse in my dream of childhood. There was one at my tiny primary school which I suspect was a good deal more battered than this one but which as a child I thought was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I have thought of buying one to give my grandchildren the memory but they are terrifyingly expensive. Have you read the Lucy M Boston Green Knowe books? I think this rocking horse probably lived there.
ReplyDeleteI'm Cro's sister Tom, so parents are both deceased - won't comment on the latter part.
ReplyDeleteIt's a pity they don't make life size rocking horses for 'grown ups'. That would be much more fun than a rocking chair! (Any room for negotiation on your fees Tom?)
ReplyDeleteI think I know the books you are talking about, Elizabethm. My friend's horse would certainly transport a child to distant places, then safely back home again.
ReplyDeleteOh you are Cro's sister, Susan H? Did you have to share Dobbin with him, or did he have his own toy tank? The bit about hell was supposed to express your possible resentment at their selling Dobbin, but maybe a little extreme...
What is it about young girls and horses? Is it to do with controlling a powerful beast, or taming and breaking-in animal instincts? Hmm... maybe worth a post in it's own right...
Make us an offer, Sue.
ReplyDelete