PERSONAL INFORMATION FOLLOWED BY BOG WOOD CARVING GUIDE

 

The term 'Boggerwood' has been deliberately chosen as my 'nom de ciseau' (the carving equivalent of a nom de plume!). This is partly as a word play on 'Bog wood' but more because the terms 'Bogger' and 'bog' (as in 'bogman') are/have been used in different ways and places in Ireland as derogatory terms or adjectives indicating backward, primitive and associated with bogs. This is a reclaiming of the term 'bogger' to be a positive description, cf Luka Bloom's song 'I'm a bogman' ('Between the Mountain and the Moon' album, 2001).

 

If you want to learn more about bog wood carving (plus some web contacts for bog wood carvings and on bogs themselves) there were Irish and English language copies of a short Guide to Bog Oak Carving (which I co-wrote) previously on the An Droichead, Belfast website; it is no longer visible there but the English language version can be found at archive.androichead.com/irish/guide-to-bog-oak-carving-en... I append a copy of a revised version below.

 

This guide to bog wood carving mentions different approaches to carving the wood: seeing what is 'in' the wood (pareidolia in a positive sense of seeing things in random objects, in this case carving the wood for them to be fully revealed), using it as a blank canvas, or copying an existing object. Of course these overlap, and leaving the wood as 'natural' a shape as you can is another. I must say I enjoy 'seeing things in things' and being inspired by that.

 

I was a member of the Bog Wood Carving Class at An Droichead, Ormeau Road, Belfast, from when it began in 2002 with course tutor Eamon Maguire through to its end in March 2020. I didn't make it all the time but when I could, I did. A separate website shows photos of bog wood carvers and their work there, and of exhibitions of work done; see www.flickr.com/photos/chiseler I would like to express my gratitude to An Droichead for running this class and particularly for continuing to host the class in later years when they received no funding for it. www.androichead.com/ And of course many thanks to Eamon Maguire as tutor for the course - there was seldom a dull moment!

 

While there is no longer a Belfast-based class in bog wood carving, there is a Bog Wood Information Exchange list which anyone can have their e-mail added to. The intention behind this is to share information about relevant exhibitions, courses, availability of wood etc. Information for sharing, or requests to be included, can be sent to me at rob.fairmichael@gmail.com

 

I enjoy working with bog oak but find bog pine can be just as rewarding, or even more so, in working with its limitations (regarding the difficulty in getting fine detail as the grain and lighter nature of the wood makes it more difficult than with bog oak). While dark black bog oak is special, I also enjoy being able to vary the colour or depth of colour with bog pine. And I am not averse to using paint as a feature or to bring out detail. Occasionally I use a variety of media with the wood.

 

I hesitate to mention the following given that I try to be painstakingly accurate in the information I give but, ahem, it is just possible that in some of the stories given as background I may be somewhat liberal with the truth, not to mention flaithiúil with invention. And some of the animals I carve (depicted in my 'Bogtrotters and other animals' album) may be imaginative creations which do not exist on the ground or in the water, or are so rare as to be invisible to most people. They do all exist, in my mind anyway as well as in wood, and some in meticulous detail. I wanted this disclaimer here - admittedly in the small print of this site - especially for those, perhaps from far flung parts, who look at this site and might believe Ireland is overrun with bogtrotters. Of course it is, but they are rarer than, and don't like inhabiting the same places as, leprechauns or Aos Sí (fairies). Bogtrotters tend to inhabit wilder and more desolate territory than either of the latter would go for. I hope that is clear.

 

What I enjoy about having this flickr site is it brings together an overview of (most but not all of) my work. Parting with pieces in which time and emotional energy has been expended can engender a sense of loss (yes!) and most get given away, so a photo is a way of still retaining a connection and remembrance - I would forget what I'd done - as well as being collectively a portfolio. I set it up some years ago when going through an unpleasant redundancy experience, to do something new and positive at that time as well as give my ego a lift, and have continued it since - I am glad I have.

 

I do not carve these bog wood sculptures to be sold.

 

Rob Fairmichael, Belfast

 

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Introductory Guide

to Bog Oak Carving

Produced for An Droichead, Béal Feirste - English language version

 

Snoíodóireacht Darach Duibhe ag An Driochead le Eamon Maguire

Bog Oak Carving at An Droichead with Eamon Maguire

 

This is intended as an initial guide to ‘how it is done’ but more detailed advice is available at the class from the tutor, Eamon Maguire. In addition, other classmates are always willing to express their opinion or make a suggestion (particularly but not exclusively when you ask!).

 

Getting your wood

While the term ‘bog oak’ is commonly used for the class, other bog woods, mentioned below, are also available and ‘bog wood’ would be a more generic term. Class members sometimes also work with modern woods including driftwood and ivy.

Bog wood is ancient timber which has been preserved through being in wet, anaerobic (oxygenless) conditions so it is most easily found where a farmer has been draining wet land or in cutaway bog. For the farmer, bog wood can be a nuisance and may simply be piled up at the side of the field. You do, of course, need to ask permission to remove bog wood and farmers are increasingly aware of the value of bog oak as a resource – so you may get it for nothing or you might have to part with a few pounds for the privilege. Bog pine is not so much used by carvers. Unfortunately, once bog wood is exposed to the open air it starts to degrade so wood which has been left in the open for some years may be too rotten to bother about – this can be the case with bog wood found in old cutaway bog.

 

In terms of location, the best place for those coming from Belfast and the north-east is the area around Lough Neagh, Lough Beg, Derrymacash and Derrytrasna (note the ‘derry’ in the last two names from ‘doire’ meaning ‘oak wood’). You may need to develop local contacts. If you holiday, live in or visit other parts of the country you can look out in likely places there. Some pieces are literally tree trunks so you may need a chainsaw or at least an axe or saw for smaller pieces. If you cannot get your own bog wood then the class can provide you with some.

 

There are four main bog woods, fir (pine) and oak being by far the commonest;

Bog oak; Typically looks a dirty grey-brown when found, try chipping a bit of the outer layer off and if it’s jet black inside it’s probably bog oak. Most work done in the class is with bog oak.

Bog fir/pine; Can be bleached a silvery white-grey outside but is more like a slightly orangey yellow brown inside, more orangey than a modern ‘antique pine’ particularly when wet. It is more difficult to get fine detail working bog fir because it can split with the grain compared to bog oak.

Bog yew; Less common, black on outside, a purplish shade on inside.

Bog birch; Black but has a different grain to oak.

 

Your wood may need to be air dried for 6 – 8 months though smaller pieces may dry rather faster, particularly in good weather. If there is a load of clay or muck on it you may wish to hose it down first – it may be home to a wide variety of insects and worms (!). Keep the wood covered in an airy place.

 

Tools and equipment

Different class members use different tools according to the kind of woodwork they do and their personal preferences. The basic tools are;

- A woodworking mallet, preferably wooden

- A gouge, a small u shaped chisel

- A flat chisel, perhaps 1 inch/2.5 cm

- A V tool, a small v shaped chisel useful for cutting lines and indentations.

 

Other tools which class members would use include various kinds of rasps for cleaning up wood (a plastic handled one is available very inexpensively), scrapers, a spokeshave (like a two handled small plane), files of various kinds or shaped riffler files and so on. If you start with the basics you can often try out someone else’s tools to see what you might use. You can buy tools in a variety of sources but some good specialist tool shops have closed (e.g. McMaster’s in Church Lane, Belfast is no longer there); on the internet Axminster in England is good (they sell drum sanding kits which fit any normal drill). For small, finer work you can use a Dremel craft drill – put it on your Christmas or birthday list!

 

For finishing off, you can use sandpaper (and a block if you like), power tool sanders (this may or may not be possible depending on the shape of your piece), and fine wire wool, as well as teak oil or linseed oil and turpentine (half and half to make it penetrate better). A wood polish could be the last thing to be applied; depending on its position (e.g. outside), or the amount of care you expect it to receive, you could use a varnish but most protective, oil based, varnishes will yellow and flake and are not a great idea. For inside pieces you can however experiment with water based (acrylic or polyurethane) varnish, especially on bog pine and it can also be used on oak – but you have to apply it carefully because if it dries in an accumulation it will dry white rather than clear which will make your piece look strange. As always with these situations you can try it on a small, inconspicuous or back piece.

  

Preparation

You need to strip off all the dirt, rotten and dodgy bits which will never last to the finished piece, using rasps, chisels, scrapers and what you will. However, until you have decided what your piece will be you’re probably wiser leaving sound ‘miscellaneous bits’ in place – they may just turn out to be a crucial part of your end design; unwanted pieces can be cut off when your design is finalised.

 

Now for the design bit….

What do you do with your wood? There are 3 main approaches, which can overlap, and you can use one or any combination of them;

1) Copy an existing item. This could be a sculpture, an item from a painting, a household item, anything. The most famous example of this in the class is probably the intricately wrought black boot fashioned by Paul Burns in bog oak....if you didn’t examine a pair of boots closely you would not know one was leather and one bog oak.

2) Carve what you want. In this case you do need a piece of wood which will allow you to achieve your masterpiece. In this approach the wood is simply a ‘blank canvas’ for you.

3) Go with what the wood suggests. Leaving a piece of wood in your home and staring at it (not all the time!) for a week or two can yield results if you can’t immediately decide, e.g. it’s a boat riding on the waves. This is an application of ‘pareidolia’ – seeing things in things. You can be surprised what your mind can see in a piece if you let it. If the wood is already an interesting shape, you may not need to do much more than clean it up and polish it to have a beautiful piece, possibly adding a figure or two or a small design.

If you are stuck with what to do, Eamon as course tutor is always willing to make suggestions and lend a helping hand. Most people will use chalk (or possibly special pencil) to mark out the initial design, and indeed further details as the work progresses. You can also search for information online on the ‘how to’ of carving, e.g. carving a face.

 

Further on and finishing off

A good question is when you start to oil your piece – the general rule of thumb would be to do it when it has taken shape but before you do finishing details. It can help by putting life into a piece and make you more aware of what the finished colour will be. You can use teak oil – available in Pound Shops – or linseed oil and turpentine (or turpentine substitute as the latter can be unavailable) to help it soak in. You may do one oiling and then one or two more when finishing completely. It can take a couple of days to soak in properly. Using boiled linseed oil will give a higher polish than raw linseed oil but it depends on your judgement of what would suit the piece concerned.

 

If working with bog pine and you want to keep it light coloured, do not oil the piece but move straight to finishing with wax or a water-based varnish (you can test an underneath, hidden part with different finishes to see what works). With pine you can also ‘spot oil’ to differentiate between different parts, or emphasise one part by either oiling it or keeping it not oiled. Pine will also go quite dark when oiled if close to the surface has been retained, lighter if you have cut into it further.

 

‘Multimedia’ pieces are of course possible using paint or other objects in conjunction with your piece. You could insert a candleholder, small vase or receptacle for flowers, used dried or pressed flowers, or something else that suits your purpose.

 

‘The shakes’ in bog wood carving is when a piece is not as robust as it might be and may have a weak or rotten spot or lines which affect your working. Apart from taking any such aspects of the wood into account in your initial design, it is possible to strengthen a piece by using wood glue (if necessary clamping the piece to hold it together until it has set) or even using wood glue and sawdust (of the same wood) to fill a spot or glue an essential part which has broken. Wood glue initially makes the sawdust look lighter than the wood because it is white but it dries clear. If it is at a hidden point which will not be seen you could even screw on a mending plate to strengthen a piece but that is rarely necessary. You could also use a stronger or ‘super’ glue.

 

The extent to which you get a highly polished finish is dependent partly on the amount of polishing work you do, and that is a product of both what you want for the finished product and the amount of elbow grease you apply! If you want a high polish you need to do a lot of smoothing with sandpaper and wire wool before waxing or varnishing. You can of course use power tools for sanding as appropriate but there may be places where power tools cannot reach.

 

For finishing off, one readily available wood wax is Briwax; you would use Jacobean Dark Oak colour for bog oak and Pine or Clear wax for lighter woods.

 

If using varnish on indoor pieces it is recommended not to use oil based varnish which can crack and discolour. ‘Quick drying’ acrylic or polyurethane varnishes are more suitable but as mentioned previously care has to be taken to ensure the varnish does not build up in a patch and dry white.

 

Congratulations…

As with any activity, things can seem a bit daunting initially. But we are certain you will be thrilled by the results of your labours…with a bit of work it is likely friends and family will be delighted to see the results of your craftpersonship. If you’re not already an ‘artist’ or ‘craftworker’ then that can be added to your CV or portfolio!

 

Exhibitions

In the past An Droichead held at least one annual exhibition of class work where family and friends could admire the collective achievement. www.flickr.com/photos/chiseler Other exhibitions are held elsewhere, sometimes in conjunction with festivals, to which class members are free to exhibit. On occasions class members, e.g. Phil Goss, have had their own exhibitions of work. Some craft centres and shops around the country have bog wood sculptures for sale which are worth looking out for, even if you’re not buying. For the last number of years the An Droichead bog wood carving class has been promoted with a stall as part of their presence at the Belfast Mela, a big intercultural festival taking place at the end of August each year.

 

More information

Bog wood is very ancient and its availability in Ireland means that we are leaders in the world in dendrochronology (tree ring dating of bog oak – to which the jokey response might be that you did not know tree rings dated!) If wood cannot be dated from the tree rings (and there is a template for Irish bog oak going back 7,000 years) then carbon dating is an option. However the commercial cost of either is around UK£300 per item.

 

Different woods flourished at different times and places. Bog oak would be typically four thousand to a thousand years old, bog fir/pine has to be three and a half thousand years old and could be up to seven thousand years old. While soil sampling has now shown not all pine (it was Scots Pine) died out 3,500 years ago in Ireland, what was left was very poor and straggly and the Dendrochronology Department in Queen’s University Belfast has no bog pine samples after 3,500 years ago. Pine trees were only reintroduced, by humans, in the 17th century.

 

All bog wood feels special for reason of its age. Bog oak has gone black because the iron in the water has interacted with the tannins in the wood to create an ebony colour. Once Ireland had been denuded of forests, bog wood (especially oak and pine/fir/deal) was often the only wood to which many peasantry/tenant farmers regularly had access – and it was used for almost everything - roofing tiles, light tapers, ropes, as well as furniture and structural wood.

 

An amazing and detailed study of the traditional uses of bog wood from a 1954 academic journal, ”Bog Wood - A study in rural economy” (Béaloideas 23, produced by the Irish Folklore Society) was written by A T Lucas, the same year as he took up being director of the National Museum of Ireland. It shows incredible ingenuity by a society which had virtually nothing but creatively used what they did have. There is a bit more information available on this at an entry on this site www.flickr.com/photos/boggerwood/30784942058/

 

You can find out lots on the web about bogs and bog wood. As with any web search, you may wish to refine your terminology to reach what you want but terms such as ‘bog oak’, ‘bog oak carving’, ‘bog wood Ireland’ ‘Irish bogs’ and ‘dendrochronology’ will deliver much reading. There are photos of finished pieces of bog wood carving – and sometimes the sky high prices that they selling for! Or look out for bog wood magic wands…

 

There are literally hundreds of sites of interest but a few sites to look out for include;

Wood carving; www.philipgoss.com (former class member), www.irishbogwoodsculpture.com www.bogwood.net and www.flickr.com/photos/boggerwood (class member)

Bogs and bog formation; www.ipcc.ie (Irish Peatland Conservation Council) and www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/geography/bogs.html (on formation of bogs)

Dendrochronology at Queen’s University Belfast; do a word search

  

[Edited version 2018. Written by Rob Fairmichael in collaboration with Eamon Maguire who provided practical and technical information]