Keeping warm in the snow

Outside my studio on Monday

I’m wearing as many layers as I can!  After half an hour of sawing I'm usually warm enough to take off my hat, and a bit later I can sometimes even do without my coat (at least for a while).  I’m really glad of the two pairs of thick socks though, no matter how much carving and sawing I do the warmth doesn’t get to my toes.

The main surprise is how dark it is.  I managed to clear a window in the 4 inch deep snow on the studio roof to let in some more light, but I’m really noticing how little daylight there is at the moment.

The sculpture progresses nicely, here are a couple of pictures:

The sawdust I’m making is shades of pastel pink and yellow, a bit like those fruit salad sweets you used to be able to buy.  It doesn’t smell like them though!  This might sound odd, but I am enjoying the smell of damp wood in the studio.  When the carving is complete I’ll bring it to the house to help it dry, I’m hoping the sudden change in humidity will give it some interesting splits down its length (about the opposite of how you would normally try to dry wood out!)