• Solo • A Gift of Owl

[Beatrice Qe'ryn]

80th Ashan, 716 Arc

A new order, a new job. Andaris was definitely not short on woodcarvers, but the thing about being an artisan meant that each and every craftsman(or woman) had their own personal style and flair that carried over to the products, which their clients and customers would then prefer using one over another. Being involved in the trade unofficially from a young age, Beatrice has more or less established a fan base consisting of a loyal group of people who enjoyed her work. When she was younger, she mostly did wooden carvings for both friends and other residents in exchange for other material products, such as food or assorted items.

Now that she was officially a woodcarver, she could start doing it for money without any fear of repercussions. Her name had somewhat spread among her loyal circle of regular customers in low town, and today, while having her mid day meal not long after the twelve break, the lass was interrupted by several knocks on the wooden door that was the entrance of her home. Leaving her unfinished meal on the table, Beatrice stood up and moved to open the door in a couple of strides. There wasn’t much room in her little cramped apartment to begin with. A lanky aged man stood outside inquiring if this was the right place to ask for Beatrice the woodcarver. She replied that it was so, and that she was Beatrice herself, and asked if he need a wood carving to be done. That was most likely why he asked about her anyhow.

The man answered “Aye, I’m looking for a wooden carving of an owl. It’s going to be special as I’ll be giving it to my grandson, who turns eight in twelve trials.” The lass gave him a delightful smile as she asked “How big would you want it to be?” “Not too big, a life-sized one would be great.” “Alright, come back here in six trials, I should be just about done by then.” The lanky aged grandfather gave her a grateful nod and left, leaving the woodcarver to her own devices. Beatrice always loved doing gifts. The thought of someone receiving her carvings always brought a smile to her face. This would be no different, she felt. No, she knew.

She would do a good job, no, a great job. She always did, and that was why people loved her work so much, as she was often told. As soon as the man left, it was time to get to work. The first step was to find herself a block of wood to work with, and the best place to go for that would be the lumber mill owned by Stockhouse brothers. She was a regular there, who made plenty of trips there during her teenage years. She had spent many a break chatting with the brothers as she accompanied them on their logging trips. Seeing her so eager, they had even given her some of the smaller logs to practice chopping away at the axe. Yeap, the girl was definitely stronger than she appeared to be, and that was how she liked it.

[Beatrice Qe'ryn]

As Beatrice approached the lumber mill, the lass saw David Stockhouse sitting away at the front counter scribbling away at the paper placed on the surface. Extending her greetings with a wave, the older man gave a brief smile followed by a wave back. “What brings you here today Beatrice? Need some wood or just here for fun?” In her youth, she would often hang out with David and his brothers as they worked in the lumber mill where the logs were stored, dried and cut to length to prepare for anything that customers might possibly need. “Not here just for fun David, I’ve got an order today, an owl to be exact.”

Giving her a knowing nod, David said “Well you know how things work around here, you can get what you need from Liam and Terry over by the yard out back. They just got back with a new shipment of logs not too long ago. If you spend some time helping them saw and dry the wood, I’m sure they could be persuaded into letting you have a small block for what you need. After all, you still enjoy working with wood, don’t you?” “That I do. I’ll go and look for them right now.” Waving a hand in thanks to the youngest stockhouse brother, Beatrice headed towards the yard where the other two brothers would be. Two breaks later, her clothes were drenched in perspiration as the physical activity took a toll on her. She was exhausted, but in the time that it had taken her to do so, she had accomplished quite a fair bit.

Working together with the two Stockhouse brothers, between the three of them they had managed to both saw through six logs and prepare them to be dried and converted into lumber. Liam was the kindest of the lot, and the sole reason that the lass chose to ask him of her request. “Hey Liam...” she said in between breaths, still tired from before. “I’ve got an order for a woodcarving, do you suppose I can get a wood carving from you?...”

Liam gave her a toothy grin before turning to gaze at Terry who had a smirk on his face. Raising his shoulders, he said with that toothy grin of his. “Alright... go on have a block, and off you go now.” Skipping to to grab the wood in her arms, Beatrice gave a wave to the brothers and as she bade they farewell. She had a job to finish.

Now that she had the block of wood in her hands, back at home, she could begin to work on the carving. The wood in her hands were those of a white pine and known to be easy to carve with a medium grain. She would be using the method of carving in the round, which would be very similar to the clay sculpturing of wood cutting. It’s finished product surfaces are often smooth with its angles rounded, giving the carving the most lifelike appearance of them all.

[Beatrice Qe'ryn]

The White Pine Beatrice had selected as her choice of wood was a good choice, for it was easy to carve and while the lass was experienced working with wood, she didn’t see the need to make things difficult for herself when she didn’t needed to. The white pine gave of a soft and cream coloured appearance and was one of her favourite types of wood for it was simply pleasant to look at no matter how one may be feeling at the moment. Grabbing the block of wood in her hands, she took a bit to observe the direction grain was running in the wood.

Since the very beginning she had always been taught to cut along the grain for better results in the end product. The thing about wood or even stone carvings, was that whatever damage done was permanent, and so rushing into the product without a rough design of how it would look like was a terrible idea, and she had the experiences to proof it.

God knows how many a product had been ruined because of a mistake she had, and had to integrate it into the end product somehow, thereby sacrificing her original vision she had in her mind when she set out to work on the product. Moving over to grab the sheet of crude paper and her reservoir pen, Beatrice sketched out the figure of the owl. Cuts and carvings were illustrated onto the wood to help guide her into seeing how the wood would shape up to be after each cut. Lines were drawn to cut along, and shapes were drawn to cut out.

A break later, the lass was done with the sketches and the planning of the carving, with guide markers illustrated along the way to prevent her from committing any critical mistakes. Putting on her leather gauntlets to protect her hands, Beatrice grabbed the saw and began sawing off the unneeded portions of the block of wood. Occasionally referring to her sketches to ensure that she was on the right track, she went on. As unwanted shapes of wood were sawn off from the block, the highly rough outline of the owl was starting to take shape.

Placing down her saw, she took up the mallet and the chisel, one of the most iconic tools of the craft. Hammering away at the irregular shapes, the chisel aided by the mallet further chipped away at the block. Pausing every now and then to take a step back and observe her progress, Beatrice continued chiselling away, shaping the carving more and more into the recognisable shape of an owl as she worked. Three breaks later, she was almost done.

By now, night had fallen, and it was starting to get dark. Lighting the candle before placing it onto the shelf, she continued working, this time using the gouge to carve out the more intricate details such as the feathers and the facial features of the bird. These intricate details were by far her most favourite step as they allowed her to work slow and add details to which would help bring the carving alive. So caught up in her work, breaks flew by into the night. By the time she was finally satisfied with her work, it was two breaks before midnight. It was then that Beatrice noticed her stomach roaring in hunger, and groaning, the lass went to grab a quick bite of food. Frankly, she was simply too tired to have a proper meal, and simply nodded off to sleep the moment her head hit the pillow. At least it had been a productive day.

The next morning, Beatrice woke up surprisingly refreshed. After barely eating anything last night, she began to prepare quite a hearty spread for herself. Halfway through her meal, she heard the familiar sound of knocking on her door. Opening it, her eyes fell upon the eager and anxious face of the man who had ordered the carving from her. “Is it ready? I’m here for the owl.” Flashing a smile at him, she said. “It’s ready. I do hope he likes it.”

Walking over to the table, she grabbed gently onto the figuring carefully to avoid any damage or scratches on her product. The man took over the carving and placed it gently into the basket, as though he was handling a baby. He handed her the agreed sum of money for the carving and went about his merry way. He had a reason to be happy, so why not?