Restoring an old wood carving. The owner of this ornament asked me if I could repair all the damage and re-finish it for her. I pointed out that the work would drastically effect it's value (estimated at less than £100) as it would no longer be original, but she wanted a nice piece for display rather than a tatty object stuffed in a drawer. Although the carving only stands at around 225mm (9 inches) it is exceptionally well carved and obviously not the usual run of the mill production piece. I was honoured to restore this and thoroughly enjoyed the process which was carried out over the course of a few weeks.
The character, named Mr Pickwick, reminded me of a childhood obsession I had with the television programmes of Trumpton and Camberwick Green, both written and produced (along with a third series called Chigley) by stop motion puppeteer Gordon Murray in the mid 1960's. Brian Cant, a popular children's TV presenter narrated the action and all the music was written and performed by the British classical guitarist and composer Freddie Phillips. It gave me a good excuse to pay homage to these talented people.