Dave carves out a name for himself in wood

The natural world even encroaches inside his home at Huby, on the edge of Wharfedale, in the form of an eye-catching collection of his bird carvings. Dave has always enjoyed working with wood and made toys for his three children. When he wanted to create a rocking horse he decided he needed to know a bit more about carving.

His level of skill has reached such heights that this autumn he won the British bird carving championship held in Bakewell. He works in a tradition that has its roots in a time when intricate bird carvings had a practical use as decoys used by wildfowlers. They had to be sufficiently realistic to convince wild birds it was safe to land in the vicinity. They became an art form in their own right and a national body, the British Decoy and Wildfowl Carvers Association, now runs the British championship.

Dave has been entering the competition for 10 years and has won awards at novice, intermediate and advanced level. The carving which earned him the overall national champion award for the first time was of a wallcreeper, a bird only occasionally recorded in Britain. Dave spotted it while he was on holiday in the Pyrenees. "I just thought it would make a nice piece with its interesting colours and it works well as a carving."

He started on it last November and the final touches were made in June. "I'm not working continuously," said Dave, whose outdoor interests also encompass running, off the road and in the countryside where possible. "But when I broke my foot at Christmas and could not get out I did a lot of work on it."

He reckons the wallcreeper took about 30 to 35 hours to complete. But did he expect to be crowned British champion? "I was hoping to be one day, but did not expect to do it just yet. I was competing against people who've carved for a long time and made some fantastic stuff. Some of them have made something of a living from it."

The financial rewards, however, are unlikely to tempt him away from the day job at Natural England where he manages a team involved in environmental monitoring and data analysis.

"I'll carve something for people I know, such as for a birthday and I'm happy to take on commissions. But you really have to be in the States to be a professional carver."

Even though his birds have soared high enough to lift the top trophy he is keeping his feet firmly on the ground and is still learning. "You can always pick up tips," he says, pointing to a photo of a rival's carving he particularly admires. An enduring competitive streak (he still tackles cross-country races at the age of 48) spurs him on.

Many people probably believe that even fairly basic carving is beyond them. Dave disagrees. "People see a carving I've done and say 'I could never do that'. But you need to remember I've been carving for about 12 years. Nearly everyone could do it to a level where they could get something out of it and be surprised at what they can do."

It would take a very keen novice, though, to approach the hours of painstaking work required of a national champion. Spotting the wallcreeper was the start of a long road for Dave who says, "I start carving the bird before the background. So at first I got out my reference books and field guide. Some of my books are from the 1950s and are a treasure trove of information. I also flicked through photos of the wallcreeper on the internet."

He then managed to obtain a stuffed specimen from a museum contact in Leeds. He took photos of it and made measurements and sketches. Having chosen an American wood called jelutong – he decided it had the right sort of grain for the wallcreeper carving – he drew the bird's shape on it and cut it out in outline.

Once the shape was right, more detailed carving could begin. When he got to the intricate feathers he scored lines in the wood with a thinly-bladed, heated knife. Apart from the legs and feet (made from copper wire coated in modelling clay) the bird is wood, finished with acrylic paint.

An artistic eye – Dave used to paint birds before he started carving them – clearly helps when working with the wood. "I painted the rock background to mirror the colours of the bird," he said. "The main problem is getting an accurate design that is artistic."

Even for a carver of Dave's standard, the occasional slip occurs when he reaches a critical stage. But the rewards of a successful creation easily outweigh the setbacks.

"The big attraction is being able to create a physical representation of the image I've got in my head. You are trying to capture something that appeals about a bird scene. For someone interested in bird watching it's a perfect combination."

CW 23/10/10