Carving Gargoyles
Grotesques and other Creatures of Myth
History, Lore and 12 Artistic Patterns
by Shawn Cipa
Softcover
215 x 280mm
159pp
Published by Fox Chapel Publishing Co. Inc., East Petersburg PA USA
R.R.P.$29.90
ISBN 978-1-56523-329-4
The Traditional Water-Spouting
Gargoyle
The Classic Gargoyle
The Screaming Keystone
Grotesque
The Guardian Grotesque
The Green Man Door
Knocker
As reviewed in The Australian Woodworker Issue 145
There is a fascination with grotesque creatures that seems to have been passed down to us from the earliest of our kind.
Many of the buildings that we have admired for centuries are graced (perhaps not the right word) with gargoyles. They were designed to carry the erosive roof-top water out, away from the edges of the building, so that it falls free with limited effect upon the structure.
The author of Carving Gargoyles gives several possible reasons for the creation of gargoyles (aside, of course, from the one that arises from their function).
Since gargoyles were often used to adorn religious buildings, perhaps they represented demons whom the righteous must pass in order to reach the sanctuary of the church.
Or maybe, says Cipa, they were condemned souls spared from Hell, but turned to stone as punishment for their sins.
Then again, they might be no more than a remnant of pre-Christian paganism, employed to bridge the gap between the beliefs of the past and that of the future.
Somehow, misshapen as they are, we never really see gargoyles as threatening. And they are only ugly in a beautiful way. Certainly, as Cipa shows, they are as attractive in wood as they are in stone.
This book begins with a step-by-step description of carving 'The Classic Grotesque'. This absorbs some 25 pages filled with basic diagrams and more than a hundred photos.
The rest of the book is devoted to photos and drawings for another 10 projects, ranging from a Crouching Imp and Green Man Door Knocker to a Screaming Keystone Grotesque and a Chimera.
Of course there is also a Guardian Grotesque and there is even a Gargoyle Cane.
Woodcarvers who are looking for a project well away from the routine and ordinary, will find these attractively ugly figures an enjoyable challenge.
The book is well written and easy to read, while the photography is excellent.
Photos: Colour
Contents
Introduction
Part 1 - History and Lore
Part
2 - Step-by-Steps
The Traditional
Water-Spouting Gargoyle
The Classic Gargoyle
Part
3 - Projects
The Screaming Keystone Grotesque
The Guardian Grotesque
The Green Man Door Knocker
The Corbel with Grotesque
The Crouching Imp
The Intaglio Lion Medallion
The Demon Gargoyle
The Gargoyle Cane
The Chimera
The Woodcarver
Appendix - Tools and Wood
The Corbel with Grotesque
The Crouching Imp
The Intaglio Lion Medallion
The Demon Gargoyle
The Gargoyle Cane
The Chimera
The Woodcarver