www.phoenixrising.eu

A quite remarkable true story about Ian G Brennan's determination to recover from losing his furniture making business in a fire in 1984, to then discovering to his amazement that he had a unknown, natural ability to be a sculptor. Within five years of the fire Ian was appointed the official Sculptor to the Most Noble Order of the Garter and Honourable Order of the Bath, since then Ian has been commissioned to create over eighty five unique sculptures for the British Royal Household.

Ian is one of those rather rare sculptors that both carves and casts, his highly detailed both realistic and heraldic wood carvings and bronze sculptures have been commissioned for Windsor Castle, Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral,  Museums, Government Buildings, Churches, Company receptions and private art collections all over the World. These commissions are as diverse as producing sculptures designed to suite the history and splendour of centuries old buildings like  Windsor Castle and St Paul's Cathedral were his where his rather unique skills in reproducing wood carvings and bronze sculpture from a by-gone age are often required; to the more modern surroundings of Company receptions and more recently the grandeur of the Grand Lobby of Cunard's new Liner the Queen Victoria.

Since 1985 Ian exhibited was invited to demonstrate his artistic skill at art and craft shows throughout the country including such events as 'Art in Action' nr Oxford were the artists and craftspeople are selected purely on merit, with particularly emphasis on the skill and originality of design expressed in their work. Many of Ian's sculptures were also exhibited in the museum 'Nature in Art' in Gloucester when he was invited on a number of occasions to be the 'artist in residence'. During 1990 the Museum Service in England toured a larger collection of Ian's wood sculptures throughout the year to many different Museums in Southern England. On this occasion this one man exhibition of Ian's work were mostly of wildlife subjects all realistically carved in fine detail with many of the sculptures being life size. 

During the past decade however Ian's has been working almost exclusively to commission therefore such exhibitions in shows and art galleries are a rather rare event.  Nowadays Ian's one man exhibitions of his wood carving and bronze sculpture he has collected over the past twenty years have been almost exclusively set in the somewhat more formal  surroundings of Museums; The Queens Room onboard the Cunard Liner QE2;  Burlington House, Home of the Royal Academy of Arts and within the magnificent historic setting of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. 

Phoenix Rising

by

Suzanne Cavill

Coming of age:  

At 4.47am on the 7th May 1984, Ian G Brennan was awoken just before dawn by a loud banging on his front door. A police officer had come to tell him that his business had been totally destroyed in a fire and could he meet with him as soon as possible at the workshop. When he arrived at his workshop shortly afterwards which was just a few miles from his home there were two fire engines an ambulance and the police office in his car, parked near to where his workshop once used to be.

The whole building had been burnt completely to the ground, although his heavy woodworking machines were still there they had partially melted in the intense heat and were still glowing red hot in the dawns early light. The large caravan which had been parked alongside Ian's workshop for many years which had been used by the all the small businesses near his workshop as a rest room, someone was believed to have left on the electric fire over night which subsequently had set fire to his and an adjoining workshop.

All his completed furniture, designs and templates, machinery, tools,  prepared timber and a completed solid oak kitchen awaiting delivery had all been destroyed in the fire. Worst was to come, as he was later to discover there was now a problem with his insurance cover for the workshop, which meant he was uninsured and had lost everything in the fire. Ironically as it turned out the new workshop Ian was planning to move into just four days later was fully insured but empty.                                                                                                         

The remains of the fire damaged workshop

 please click to enlarge

Some of the furniture Ian had been working on just before the fire had fortunately been  removed earlier from his workshop and delivered to the customer. These  included the majority of the solid mahogany units Ian had built for the Galley of the J Class Yacht   'Velsheda' which was shortly to take part in the Tall Ships race, although unfortunately some of these mahogany units for the Velsheda were still in the workshop awaiting delivery and were consequently destroyed in the fire. Several weeks earlier Ian had decided to removed the two huge cedar logs that he had been seasoning inside the workshop outside, to give him a bit more room so he could not only set out the Velsheda's galley but also the solid oak kitchen he had also been working on.

These hundreds of square feet of high quality cedar wood timber were fortunately now seasoned and safely stored away, as it turned out far enough from the workshop and were undamaged in the fire, although a little charred on the edges. He at least still had a supply of timber to use for many of his projects, even if he now no longer had the tools, woodworking machinery or most importantly a workshop to put it all in.  

Part of the mahogany units Ian had built for the galley of the J Class Yacht Velsheda 

"During the early afternoon on the day of the fire, the remains of the workshop had cooled down sufficiently enough so we could start scouring through the debris on the floor of the workshop trying to salvage anything of value that I could either use or be sold as scrap metal. I then noticed to my amazement although many of my tools and heavy metal woodworking machinery had melted or were bent and twisted in the intense heat of the fire, a small section of a the remains of a wooden roof beam although charred on the outside had strangely burnt to a rough shape which resembling a leaping dolphin, after showing my wife the unusual  piece of burnt wood, I put it to one side for a moment and continued to search through the rubble".  

When Ian eventually got home one of the first things he tried to do was to contact as many of his customers he could to inform them of his current difficulties and that unfortunately there would now be a delay in re-making their orders. He managed to contact all except one of these customers who with out exceptions were very sympathetic and just as importantly were willing to wait for their furniture orders to be rebuilt.  "After contacting the customers and subsequently securing these orders knowing I still have work and potential money coming in. I made an appointment with my bank manager who I had fortunately had a good working relations with for many years. I was not asking to borrow a lot more money, I was just hopping for enough to enable me to hire some tools and materials for a few weeks and also if possible perhaps for the bank to honour my standing orders just for a few months until I could get things sorted out.":

The bank manager at his local branch was like his customers, very sympathetic and said he is however obliged to inform the banks head office and would get back to him shortly. Whilst Ian was waiting to hear back from the bank he and his wife Suzanne spent the next few days continuing to shift through the remains of his burnt out workshop trying to find anything they could salvage from the fire.

Just a few days after the meeting with my bank manager the eagerly awaited letter from the Banks head office arrived at my home. On opening the letter, initially the wording of the letter appeared quite sympathetic however the letter soon became less than friendly with the more sinister undertones quickly becoming apparent. The letter concluded with the very clear message which basically meant, as I would appear to be know longer in the position to honour my monitory obligations to the bank, that if all my borrowings now owed to the bank was not repaid within seven working days, the bank would start proceedings without further notice to reprocess my home. 

Having no money and obviously now no support whatsoever from the bank, any thoughts of moving as previously planned into another workshop quickly disappeared.. The person who Ian was renting the workshop from decided he would not rebuild it and he would instead, once the site was cleared of the debris, use the space for much needed parking for the nearby businesses. He said however he was in no particular hurry and I could stay there working for a while if I wished, however he said if I did decided to rebuilt a workshop on the site he would have to charge rent for it, which was fair enough.

 

Ian working alongside the two surviving stacks of Cedar wood timber 

please click to enlarge

The following morning Ian was up early to the site as the scrap dealers were due to start collecting the heavy machinery, a few hours later the burnt out machines were gone and anything worth salvaging was either sold as scrap or stored away in a friends nearby workshop. The £ 96.the scrap dealers had given Ian was not a lot, but it was enough to be able to now hire some wood working tools which would enable him to start work on producing the customers orders once again.. 

Although Ian had tried on several occasions the one customer he had not yet not manage to contact about the fire, was the married couple who had patently waited for their hand made oak kitchen to be completed. It had taken Ian many months of work to complete all the beautifully crafted solid oak kitchen units and work surfaces. The customers had seen the kitchen a few days before the fire, which was completed and awaiting delivery and being fitted in their home the following week. As with most of his orders Ian received a deposit and stage payments which enabled him to not only to purchase the materials, but to also work on constructing the fitted kitchen.  

This particular customer at this stage had paid Ian £ 3,000 in stage payments of the £ 5,000 total cost of the oak kitchen. Even at today's prices this is not a small amount of money but in 1984 it was much more so and the customers were obviously eagerly awaiting Ian to deliver and install their brand new kitchen. As Ian was busily erecting a small corrugated iron roofed shelter to be used as his temporary workshop, a car slowly pulled up alongside. The man in the car was in fact the same man who a week earlier was admiring his completed oak kitchen. He stopped the car and after looking at the ruins of the workshop, wound down the window and simply said " It wasn't in there was it ?" I replied "I am afraid it was".  As he got out of his car and walked towards me he asked me what was going to do now.  I explained the problems I was now having with the bank and the insurance, but just as quickly I said that if he would again be patient and allow me the time, I would rebuild his new kitchen as soon as possible.

"I was at this stage no doubt just like the customer, acutely aware of the £ 3,000 deposit he had already paid and he had the receipts to prove it, along with my intention to complete the kitchen about this time. He turned around without saying a word and walked back to his car, after a few moments he retuned and handed me a piece of paper. He said " I see you have a few problems so here is a further advance towards our kitchen,. it was a cheque for £1,000. he continued "we are prepared to wait for the kitchen a bit longer, hope this might help keep the bank of your back for a while."  I was completely taken aback, here was a relative stranger handing me a £1,000 life line and the bank I have been with for almost a decade were desperately tying to do the complete opposite.            

one of Ian's early carvings at his old workshop

"Although I still had a full order book with many months of  work as the bank was being very difficult I knew I would have to try and take my overdraft elsewhere, although it was obvious under the circumstances trying to find a new bank which would take over my overdraft would prove to be difficult".  In the nearby Town Ian made appointments with as many different banks as possible all on the same day, starting from one end of  the nearby Town to the other. These appointments were spaced out roughly at hourly intervals starting at 10.00 am, with the last appointment which he hoped would not be required at 3.00. pm.

"Some interviews with the different bank managers turned out to last longer than others but the results were unfortunately still the same, "I am sorry but we cannot help you", it appeared a lot of British Banks only lend you money if you do not need it.  After several disappointing interviews things started to look rather bleak, fortunately however the second to last Bank left on my list finally agreed to take over my overdraft and just as importantly allowed me a three months break from  loan repayments. This would enable me the vital time needed to try and sort the business out. "Now with a new bank in place and a bit of  breathing space,

"On tidying up the last pieces of his old workshop amongst the rubble on the workshop floor I once again came across the old burnt piece of wood which I had found on the day of the fire. Using my pen knife and one of my old wood rasp minus its wooden handle I had found on the floor early, I soon cleared away the burnt wood on the beam and eventually complete what the fire had started." Ian explained, "I had never tried to carve anything in wood before, but before to long the dolphin was completed. My wife suggested perhaps I try and carve and identical dolphin to see if the first carving was just a fluke."   

Ian's first woodcarving

snow carving of 'Donald Duck'

Ian continued to push his then unknown wood carving boundaries forward all the time limited only by his imagination and the size of timber he could find and afford. He soon discovering that he would appeared to have a natural ability to see three-dimensionally and therefore see the finished subject trapped inside the block of wood, he just simply set them free. He always had a particular passion for wildlife especially after spending so many happy times when he was very young as he used to wander into the jungle near his former school near Changi in Singapore and shared his pack lunch with the wild Gibbons that over the months had gradually grew in confidence to share his lunch near the edge of the jungle. Ian's father was stationed in Singapore whilst serving in the Royal Marines

As Ian was self taught as a wood carver he had to try and learn how to use carving tools and also the various techniques required, simply by trial and error. Particularly difficult was the challenge of trying to carve many totally different subjects in fine detail all from a solid block of wood which leaves no room for mistakes. Two of Ian's early experimental wood carvings were the 'Serengeti scene' which was a sculpture depicting many types of African animals all carved together from a solid block of lime wood which include lions, hyenas, hunting dogs, vultures etc. The other experimental wood carving was to be a version of Michelangelo's David, both were chosen not only as the subjects were totally different but also the technique required to work on both sculptures would require a totally different approach.

'Serengeti scene'  - lime wood 34 inches long                    David  - lime wood 30 inches high 

Ian started taking more interest in some sculptors work from long ago particularly he feels the best sculptor of all Michelangelo. He found the detail such renaissance masters achieved in their work most inspiring. After visiting a local saw mill seeking their advice on the most suitable timbers to carve, Ian was given a couple of large blocks of lime wood timber to practice on. As he had a photograph of Michelangelo's famous David sculpture he thought he would try and make a copy of it as best he could at the time. 

Obviously as he hadn't been carving very long so was a rather ambitious project, but he found he could learnt a lot trying to discover the technique used in carving from a solid block using his new found carving chisels. As working on reproducing the David sculpture was meant to be a carving exercise and if completed could never be anything more than a rather amateur copy of  someone else's rather special creation, eventually with valuable carving lessons learnt, work on both the David sculpture along with the carving of the 'Serengeti scene' were eventually abandoned unfinished. 

"Throughout this first year I had managed quite well in my new 'open planned' working environment although It was rather exposed to the elements the weather did not effect my work to much apart from a few weeks of snow, which unlike the rain managed to get in everywhere and then simply melt underfoot, I didn't help either as I have never been able to function very well in cold conditions. Although working under the temporary shelter wasn't to bad after a while, I badly missed my woodworking machinery especially the large planning machinery when a few weeks earlier you could simply place a roughed out piece of timber into one end of the planner and a few seconds later with one just pass through the machine it was totally smooth. 

The same process especially making table tops now took me many hours to complete planning the wood by hand. When I first started my business I didn't have any good wood working machinery and was quite used to working entirely with hand tools, however once you had scrimp and save for many years and finally managed to get together some good woodworking machinery only then to lose them this way and then having to go back using hand tools, somehow made it feel worse. 

Without a proper workshop or indeed a showroom I had to find other outlets to exhibit my newly completed furniture, although the replacement phone now fixed to the remains of my workshop wall would still ring with new potential customers, obviously inviting these customers around to my burnt out workshop would not exactly help to inspire the customers confidence in my ability to be able to complete their order, so I had to find some other way to exhibit my furniture.

"I decided to work from Monday to Friday making the garden benches, coffee tables etc, under my make shift shelter alongside my old workshop and on the Friday evening before setting off home I would load up the van for an early start the following morning. We would the drive into the country side and try and find a suitable lay-by alongside a main road to 'set up shop' for the day. Fortunately with all the passing traffic this often proved quite successful in re-generating sales and orders for my furniture ".

'setting up shop' for the day in a lay-by alongside a main road

Whilst waiting for customers to appear with all our furniture set out  along the side the road, Ian could often be found sitting inside the van carving the animals and birds from any old pieces of wood he could find.. Eventually when he had completed a few carvings and slowly began to gain a little confidence in his new found skills as a woodcarver he agreed to his wife's repeated requests to display these woodcarvings amongst the coffee tables and garden furniture. Slowly these wood carvings on display also began to generate interest and woodcarving commissions were starting to look a distinct possibility, unfortunately however the perceived distinct lack of experience as a wood carver from many people at the time did cause some difficulties with their confidence in him being able to undertake or indeed complete a potential carving commission, which was quite understandable considering he had only been carving for a few months.

Ian spent all his 'spare' time carving and soon found he could carving quite quickly and soon managed to build up a display of different wood carvings. This  collection of carvings soon led people to believe he had in fact actually been carving for a quite a few years which was something Ian was quite happy to go along with as soon as the wood carving commissions started to come in.Once work on his furniture orders were complete for the day when he got home Ian couldn't wait to start working on his wood carvings even to the extent of sitting in front of the television in the lounge in the evening often to the early hours of the morning witling away on some small block of wood. Fortunately he also still managed to keep up with his furniture orders although it was the following year before he finally caught up with his previous customers orders and replaced all the furniture that was lost in the fire.

A larger order for furniture and various wooden fittings was then received to completely fit out a new 'Wine Bar' with all the wooden tables, chairs, benches, bar stools, garden furniture, bar top and even carving the sign for the Wine Bar. This order soon enabled me to move into new premises not to far away from my old workshop. I could also now start to try and replaced a lot of the lost tools and wood working machinery destroyed in the fire, including one of my first purchases a good second-hand planning machine.

"It was tough going over the next two years, I sold some of the wood sculptures and just survived. Being self-taught meant I had to learn from my mistakes and consequently I soon learnt a lot, but as I have always spent my life working on the premise ‘ if all else fails, read the instructions, I felt I was quite well equipped to cope, I certainly hoped so".  A local newspaper ran a full feature about Ian's work which was spotted by a Gallery owner visiting friends in the area who asked to see his work and consequently invited him to exhibit his wood sculptures in a top gallery in Mayfair, London for a pre-Christmas showing, Ian's first exhibition in an Art Gallery. This exhibition fortunately generated a lot of interest and was extended for a further six months.

Further exhibitions in many prominent art galleries thought England followed and a few years later the Museum Service toured a larger collection of Ian's realistic wood sculptures to many different Museums across Southern England. This one man exhibition of Ian's work were mostly of wildlife subjects all carved in fine detail with many of the sculptures being life size, such exhibitions helped to get Ian establish in the Art World.

"Woodcarving can and often is a relatively slow process just using hand chisels and a mallet, although Ian initially starts work on a large sculpture with a chainsaw to remove as quickly as possible the larger sections of wood, it still often takes quite some time to produce a large sculpture,  therefore collect together a good exhibition of wood sculptures which can show all the various aspects of my work takes time and therefore money to build up." Although working on commissions was and still is where most of my time is spent, in the early day it did prevent me from getting a large collection of different sculptures together for such exhibitions. The only way forward was now to try and reduce the amount of commissions I undertook and try to concentrate spending more time on building up some special exhibition pieces

"This idea of no longer making the time available to produce furniture, cutting down on my commissions and consequently having little income  unfortunately, eventually began to use up the patience of my latest bank manager, so the search was on yet again to try and find another Bank who would help out. Fortunately, before to long I found a new bank manager from the Royal Bank of Scotland, who agreed to allow me the time and resources to work on producing a large collection of wood sculptures for a major exhibition which had been planned the following year in London."

On occasions during this period, it was sometimes still  necessary to use some of the remaining supply of  seasoned timber and quickly make some garden furniture to sell and try to make ends meet. As the Transit van was sold many months earlier to raise some money, my car an old Triumph Stag was quickly pressed into service for a few months to take over the deliveries of  these occasional items of furniture, until this Stag also had to be sold to help raise some much needed cash. 

It took almost eighteen months of working long hours, with no holidays or days off before he finally managed to put together this large and varied collection of wood sculptures. These sculptures were again mostly of wildlife studies with many being life size, these included a pair of swimming otters, a running cheetah, a sleeping lioness, an Owl in a log and a pair of golden eagles, one of which was in full flight, all beautifully carved in very fine detail from Walnut, Tulip, Cedar, Willow and Lime wood. 

With just two weeks to go before the all-important exhibition in London this large and varied collection of sculptures were finally completed. Ian was then asked by a friend if he would be prepared to loan these sculptures for her newly opened Art gallery in Bournemouth during the first week of a special exhibition she was planning, just before he took all the sculptures to London. Something Ian was only to pleased to help out with.  She thought the sculptures would be a nice contrast to the wildlife paintings she had on exhibition, also hoped it might help her with generating some extra publicity for the Gallery.

The exhibition certainly did manage to generated a lot of Media attention both pre and post exhibition, however not all in the way either of us had hoped for. Early in the morning the day before the exhibition was due to open, Julie the owner of the art gallery phoned Ian to tell him thieves smashed down the heavy plate glass of the art gallery broke in attempted to steal Ian's sculptures. Those wood sculptures that were not damaged when the galleries heavy plate glass windows shattered and fell down on top of them were stolen. Unfortunately the vast majority of the collection he had worked so hard on producing had now been either stolen or were badly damaged, all those years of time and effort Ian had put into his work had once again overnight come to nothing. The police however who were on the scene very quickly were very supportive and said they would do their best to try and recover the sculptures.

After getting over the initial shock Ian had then the unenviable task of having to contact the London Gallery to explain the situation and that the large collection of wood sculptures he had promised them for their exhibition in just over a weeks time were no longer available. The London gallery although sympathetic were quite understandably none to pleased. All this was to put back Ian's plans on a further major exhibition in London again for a quite a few years to come. "You couldn't help begin to think that perhaps I should give up trying to work for myself and get myself a proper job". Several week later the Police who had done an excellent job were good to their word and contacted Ian to tell him they had indeed managed to get most of the stolen sculptures back which were then later returned to him.                        

"Up to this stage The size of the wood sculptures I produced were limited by the size of the trees I could find and obviously afford ”. Also the largest of these trees I had hoped to develop my skills on would have had preservation orders on them which prevented them from being felled anyway. However fate was again to lend a helping hand, in October 1987 Southern England was hit by Hurricane force winds, which uprooted millions of trees. Overnight I had been given a large supply of massive trees, many of which were donated free of charge by the local councils 'if I got them of the road'.  With help from a friend and by hiring a lorry with a crane this task of  hauling away the best of these fallen trees kept me very busy for weeks, once they were all stored away for seasoning, the timber was to last me for many years to come."     

 

 

 

 Bald eagle carved from one piece from within the fork of a Lime tree: - please click to enlarge 

The first of these larger sculptures Ian started to experiment on, carved from one of these huge fallen trees was a 10 feet high Life size Bald Eagle in flight carved in one piece from within the fork of a 150 year old lime tree.( shown above )  This sculpture was initially shaped with a chainsaw where it had fallen as it was far to heavy to be move as it was to far away from the nearest road, the tree having fell on the side of a hill didn't help much either. Ian spent the first week working on the sculpture during a freezing cold and wet January, trying to reduce as much of the weight as possible so he could eventually carry the massive roughed out eagle sculpture back to the comfort of his studio for finishing off.  

“ I built up a picture in my mind what the particular sculpture should eventually look like, obviously the overall design of the carving is restricted within the parameters of the log, however I tend to try and adjust the particular pose the sculpture should take as I go along, not only to try and give the sculpture a more flowing movement but also to enable me the freedom to re-position the carving within the log if a flaw in the wood suddenly appears deep down in the wood or, as is sometimes the case you suddenly find a piece of rusting metal from some long lost fencing or washing line hiding in the wood. Usually the first clues of this obstruction is the rather pretty shower of sparks you see as the hidden metal object quickly strips away the sharpened teeth of your chainsaw

"Carving anything from a single piece of wood let alone a 10 feet high eagle in flight, especially as I had not done anything quite like it before takes a lot of concentrated effort, one mistake and a potential vital part of the sculpture could be lost. It eventually took several months work in my studio before the carving was finally complete in all its fine detail, fortunately without any feathers missing. The eagle was then bleached and stained to give a more true to life Bald eagle appearance". ( For the various stages in carving the bald eagle sculpture; from the tree to the completed sculpture; please click this link.)  

Birds of Prey sculptures, particularly eagles are Ian’s favourite subjects to work on and are produced extremely realistically especially when they are carved life size, attention to detail is rather extraordinary especially to the flight feathers which can take hours to carve almost paper-thin, patience is essential as there are obviously hundreds of feathers on each bird sculpture. To relive the tedium during this stage he always tends to work on completely different style of carving at the same time.

During 1990 the Museum Service in England toured a larger collection of Ian's wood sculptures throughout the year to many different Museums in Southern England. On this occasion this one man exhibition of Ian's work were mostly of wildlife subjects all realistically carved in fine detail with many of the sculptures being life size. Ian was also invited to demonstrate his artistic skill at art and craft shows throughout the country including such events as 'Art in Action' nr Oxford were the artists and craftspeople are selected purely on merit, with particularly emphasis on the skill and originality of design expressed in their work. Many of Ian's sculptures were also exhibited in the museum 'Nature in Art' in Gloucester when he was invited on a number of occasions to be the 'artist in residence'.

Many of these exhibits were also exhibited in the Museum 'Nature in Art' in Gloucester when Ian was on a number of occasions invited to be the artist in residence. He was also invited on several occasions to exhibit and demonstrate his artistic skill at art and craft shows throughout the country including 'Art in Action' nr Oxford were the artists and craftspeople are selected purely on merit, with particularly emphasis on the skill and originality of design expressed in their work.

A life size Bald Eagle wood carving on display outside Lord Nelson's Flagship HMS Victory 

As well as a few setbacks he also had some rather lucky breaks which he feels tends to even things out quite a bit." One of these lucky breaks was when  the Times newspaper ran a feature about Ian's work which was also appearing in a London gallery. A member of the Royal Household saw his work and was so impressed by the standard of  Ian’s carvings he was invited to London to discus a variety of unique commissions for Henry V11 Chapel in Westminster Abbey and St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, two of the most historical and widely visited buildings in England.

From that moment he never looked back, within five years from the fire Ian was appointed ‘Sculptor to the Most Noble Order of the Garter and Honourable Order of the Bath’ and now spends around three months of each year on a large and variety of commissions for the British Royal Household. These commissions  not only included producing the painted and gilded Crowns, Coronets and Crests for the latest Knights of the Garter and Bath, but various other sculptures in both wood and bronze for the Royal Household.. " One aspect of  his work I particularly enjoy is the regular invitation I receives to Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey to attend these historic ceremonies and to be involved in a tradition that has been going on for many Centuries."

Ian delivering his completed Coronet for HRH The Princess Royal - HM The Queen at the Order of the Garter Service at Windsor Castle

It takes Ian two to three weeks to carve each particular crown, crest or coronet in his studio, working from the beautifully painted one-dimensional water-colour designs he is presented with, which he then transforms into an impressive three-dimensional lime wood carving designed to last for centuries.

“One of the main criteria I was given by the member of the Royal Household when I was first asked to produce this work, was that ' the commissions will all be totally different so I must be capable of carving anything' a rather daunting prospect at the time I recall, as I had only been carving for just a few years". Also an added pressure was the sculptures obviously had to be carved to the very highest standard but also and had to be completed and delivered on time, as these Crowns, Coronets and Crests were an integral part of the State Ceremonies held at Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey". Fortunately Ian has risen to the task since 1998 although his ability has certainly been well tested as each one of these commissions to date from the Royal Household are indeed all totally unique.

The first of these sculptures for the Order of the Garter was to be the carved and gilded Crown for HM Juan Carlos I of Spain to be placed in St George's Chapel Windsor Castle this commission was quickly followed by a carved and painted life size Heraldic sculpture of a Cockerel for an Admiral of the Fleet for the Order of the Bath which was then placed in Henry V11 Chapel in Westminster Abbey, these were the first two wood carving heraldic commissioned from the Royal Household. One of the more recently commissioned carvings he produced for an installed Knight of the Garter was a ‘Phoenix rising from the flames’, quite ironic really considering how Ian first started carving.

 These commissions for the Royal Household are often as varied as carving, Regal Lions to Mythical Unicorns and State Crowns and Coronets for Royalty and the Nobility from all over the World. Carvings also range from Majestic Eagles, to Busts of Men and Woman for Field Marshals, Admirals of the Fleet and Marshals of the Royal Air Force. These designs also include other Animals, Birds and Flowers for Prime Minister and other Heads of State, more recently these   commissions have included producing the 20 inches high carved and gilded Chrysanthemum Crest for His Imperial Majesty Emperor Akahito of Japan.        

On 23rd of April each year on St George’s Day, Buckingham Palace officially announce who is to be the latest recipient of the Most Noble Order of the Garter,  the highest honour the Sovereign can bestow. A few weeks later Ian receive the detailed coloured drawings to work from. These carvings for the Knights of the Garter are then required to be completed in time for the annual Garter service held at St George’s Chapel Windsor Castle in June the following year.                         

Fortunately these sculptures are usually spaced out quite evenly over the year enabling Ian to work on his other private and commercial commissions, however during HM The Queens Golden Jubilee year in 2002, fourteen commissions were received from the Royal Household all within weeks of each other which kept him extremely busy as they all had to be completed and installed in time for both these historic services in Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey.   

A small selection of over sixty, Crowns, Coronets and Crests that have been carved and painted by Ian G Brennan, before they were placed in St George's Chapel Windsor and Henry V11 Chapel in Westminster Abbey for the Knights of the Most Noble Order of the Garter and Most Honourable Order of the Bath.  

 top row  -  Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk - HM King Juan Carlos1 of Spain - Baroness Margaret Thatches - Lady's and Knights of the Order of the Garter

   bottom row  -      Lord Beetham  -  Sir Frank Cooper - Sir Henry Leach  -  Knights of the Order of the Bath.

These carvings produced by Ian during HM the Queen's Jubilee year included a sculpture of an Ostrich, Bobcat, Cornish chough bird and a Boar again all carved from lime wood, painted and then gilded for the Knights of the Bath. Commissioned for the latest Knights of the Garter was a Phoenix rising from the Tower of London, a Hawk standing on a gauntlet and the carved and gilded Crown for HM King Harald V of Norway,

Over the years Ian has also worked on a large variety of more realistic commissions, which has been as varied as producing a life size bronze 'Osprey catching a Pike' for a fountain, a life size statue woodcarving of the 'Risen Christ' for a local church, to carving a replica of a life size lion figurehead for a Museum in Portsmouth and then spending several months working on board 'Lord Nelson’s flagship’ HMS Victory' carving all the intricate replacement scrollwork which surrounds the starboard side entrance port on the middle gun-deck on this 104 cannon First Rate Warship, which was originally built in 1765.    

HMS Victory was Admiral Lord Nelson's Flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar and is the oldest commissioned Warship in the World. During 1989/90 Ian was invited by The Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth in Hampshire UK to carve from huge solid blocks of  mahogany an exact replica of the original Starboard Side Entrance Port on this historic warship HMS Victory, who's restoration is near completed.. 

 Admiral Lord Nelson’s Flagship HMS Victory with the replacement scrollwork carving

Other restoration projects Ian has also been involved with include more recently working in  'Southwick House' at HMS Dryad, which was General Eisenhower's Allied Headquarters in Southern England for 'Operation Overlord ' during WWII (where D Day was planned). During the recent restoration of this historic building Ian was commissioned to repaired and replace all the missing finely carved mouldings and detailed woodcarvings on the huge antique mirrors and picture frames  which have hung on the walls in this magnificent mansion for centuries.

Although Ian started using wood as a medium for his sculptures in 1984, enjoying the challenge of carving from a single solid block, a moments carelessness a few years ago with a chainsaw just putting the finishing touches to the crest of the wave on the base of the 'Osprey catching a pike' wood sculptures caused serious injuries to the tendons in his left hand which prevented him from holding carving chisels and therefore working for almost eight months. The blade of the chainsaw  hit the back of his hand and then quickly bounced of the metal casing of his watch which fortunately prevented more serious injuries. He was quickly taken to the hospital were luckily the exceptional skill of the surgeons and staff in the local hospital repaired the damage. Ian then had to attend the hospital for three days a week for physiotherapy treatment throughout this period which eventually enabled him to fully regain movement in his hand, part of his treatment after his physiotherapy was also spent in the occupational therapy unit workshop which was attached to the hospital.

The wood sculpture of the 'Osprey catching a Pike' carved from a single piece of lime wood

 

Amongst the equipment in this workshop at the unit was a wood turning lathe something he had never used before, the subsequent lessons given by a member of staff at the hospital showing him how to use this lathe proved most useful, not only in helping him to gradually over the months get the flexibility back into his hand which is the prime purpose of the machines at the unit, but also learning how to make with the lathe potentially wooden crowns and coronets for the future. These crowns were made from the blank pieces of lime wood Ian started take with him into the hospital therapy unit most mornings. "I originally used to carve all the crowns and coronets by hand, but to suddenly now to have a wood turning lathe and an expert to show me how to use it properly whilst I was undergoing treatment was too good an opportunity to miss. 

 

“I am afraid however I soon discovered, as also did the staff and fellow patience in the unit that not all woodcarvers make good wood turners.  "As much as the instructor tried to show me the correct way to use the lathe, after a while I would as often as not just for a moment loose concentration and return to my old carving ways and try to plunge the chisel in the spinning block of wood far too deep, with often rather unfortunate consequences, a terrible bang was quickly followed by frequently damaged pieces of wood or the occasional broken chisels.

Eventually Ian's wood turning skills gradually started to improve and over the weeks and months that followed, these blank blocks of lime wood which he took with him each morning to the hospital unit, built up to a rather large collection of wood turned to the rough shape of Crowns and Coronets for future potential commissions for both Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey

Over the years various Art galleries particularly those in London had suggested perhaps Ian might consider producing some bronze sculptures to exhibit alongside his woodcarvings as the contrast between wood and bronze would be rather effective in future exhibitions. Although the though had a curtain amount of appeal to Ian, he was so busy producing his woodcarvings the idea of stopping his rather hectic carving schedule to experiment with a totally different medium did not really appeal to him to much.

The technique and tools required for woodcarving is also total different to that required in producing bronze sculptures. In woodcarving you frequently start with a solid block of wood and slowly remove everything that is not required for the particular sculpture obviously taking care not to remove something you shouldn't until you accomplish the desired result. With bronze sculpture you start with nothing but pieces of clay, wax or plaster and slowly add the material together to eventually create the sculpture you are after and if you were to make a mistake you can simple add another piece of material on.

Being unable for the time being to again earn his living as a wood carver things once again started to prove rather difficult financially. Ian had until then finally managed after many years of hard work to at last escape the financial burdens of the past, now once again being unable to work things again started slowly to revert to the bad old days. An article in a local paper however was drawn to his attention it was a competition for artists in the area being run by Portsmouth's City Council. Ian had never before exhibited any of his work in a competition before and rather unconfidently was reluctant to do so now, however the first prize of £ 500.00 especially at the present moment sounded rather attractive. 

After completing the application form the sculpture was delivered to the museum and was put on exhibition alongside many other art works by some very fine artists. A few days later much to Ian's great surprise and obvious delight the Osprey sculpture which had been the cause of all his current difficulties, won the first prize. The Osprey sculpture had suddenly started to now earn its keep not only as a wood carving but later as it would turn out as a limited edition bronze.

The accident to Ian's hand however had changed everything he simply had no choice but to follow the Doctors orders and to put on hold his many woodcarving commissions and therefore almost as a therapy try to work in a much softer more malleable material which was more suitable for his current situation. This way of working also helped Ian to slowly regain full movement back into his hand. The first of Ian's bronze sculptures was a small 'Elephant and calf ' made from clay which could easily be modelled with one hand.

Ian was told by the doctors that although the injury to his tendons were healing well he must still not try and work again holding carving chisels with his left hand for several more months. As any savings he had were now long gone the possibility of having these clay elephants now cast in bronze were very slim, it is a rather expensive process having such 'master copies' moulded and then cast in bronze, he thought it therefore rather pointless tying to build up a collection of clay sculptures only for them to be left to eventually dry out, crack and fall apart in the corner of his studio.

Ian was then given the opportunity offered by the local foundry to watch the various foundry craftsmen in their work preparing other artists work, observing the clay master copy slowly being transformed into a superb bronze casting. The techniques used to produce the flexible mould and subsequently the replica in wax which after many weeks in the foundry was eventually transformed in bronze. All though he was unaware of it at the time all the knowledge gained in the foundry process was later to prove invaluable in preparing his own future bronze sculptures.

Ian's original clay sculpture alongside the bronze version; Ian's first bronze sculpture 

10 inches (24cm) long

Several weeks after Ian's accident, friends of his Terry and Judy Elson, who over the years had purchase a number of Ian's larger wood sculptures arrived unexpected to his studio see what he was currently working on. Ian explained why he had his hand in plaster and that as he was obviously unable to carve at the moment he would take the opportunity to try modelling in clay instead and perhaps one day also produce his work in bronze. Terry jokingly said when they win the Lottery they would pay to have all Ian's wood sculptures they now owned and the other sculptures Ian still had in his studio, moulded and cast in bronze.

A few week later Terry and Judy again turned up to Ian's studio and explained to his total amazement they had indeed just won the lottery and true to his word they confirmed they now would have Ian's sculptures moulded and produced in bronze. The following day a collection of Ian's original wood sculptures along with the elephants were taken to the 'Phoenix' foundry in Southern England and moulds were produced. Within a year Ian's had now built up a large potential collection of both wood and bronze sculptures.                                                                     .

The first sculpture Ian had produced of his work cast in bronze was the small clay elephants, this sculpture was then followed by the Osprey catching a Pike. The normal process in the art foundry is that the artists original master copy which are usually produced in clay are once moulded discarded as the moulding process often damages the clay original. Ian's sculptures however apart from the elephants were all carved over many years from a single piece of hard wood and he was rather reluctant to say the least to have this original wood carving destroyed during the foundry process. http://www.sculptor-iangb.com/creating.html )

The skill of the foundry mould maker in particular was however superb and over many months the craftsman managed to produce the necessary high quality plaster and rubber moulds using my original wood carvings as the master copies, all without damaging one single wooden feather. This left Ian now with the rather unique position of having both the bronze casting along with the intact original wood carving ,a process Ian has repeated on many occasions on his other wood sculptures 

Osprey catching a Pike  -  Leaping Panther  -  Swimming Otter  -  Swan with Cygnets

  66" high x 39" wide     -     45" Long  x 37" High      -    43" high x 17" wide   -     27" high x  34" wide

All four bronze sculptures were originally carved from a single piece of English walnut or lime wood, moulded and then cast in bronze

The bronze sculptures collection now also included many life size sculptures including swimming otters, a mute swan and cygnets and leaping panther'. Smaller sculptures included a leopard sleeping in a tree and a pair of golden eagles'. One minute Ian had built a reputation with his highly detailed wildlife woodcarvings the next he was now able to built up an equally impressive large collection of bronze wildlife sculptures.

 Leaping Panther carved from Walnut, cast in Bronze

Although Ian started using wood as a medium for his sculptures in 1984, enjoying the challenge of carving from a single solid block. In 1996 his work began to be also cast in bronze and occasionally silver. Although as is the normal process the original master copies produced for bronze sculptures are sculpted in clay, wax or plaster are often destroyed during the moulding process at the foundry, when appropriate Ian still produces the original master copy for the bronze casting in wood, which is then moulded to produce the bronze sculpture. This highly detailed woodcarving 'master copy' can then be polished and retained as a unique sculpture. 

Many hours of researching the subject are undertaken using live studies whenever possible, but he also uses videos and books until he has built up a complete picture in his mind of what the intended sculpture should look like. Ian has a natural ability to see things three dimensionally, which is extremely useful when he is carving one of his life size sculptures from within the trunk of a massive tree. Ian now often works on a number of different commissions in two separate studios, one for bronze the other for wood carvings often on the same day. This process going from one sculpture to another throughout the week enables him to see each one completely afresh. " The total contrast between perhaps one day working on a life size wax sculpture of a swimming otter for a bronze, to then perhaps carving a jewel encrusted Crown for a Queen," is what makes his work so enjoyable”. His commissions have also often been as diverse as carving an ten feet high Bald Eagle for an American Corporation, to a life size statue of the Risen Christ for a local church, a five feet high Lion Figure head for a Museum, to then carving from elm wood a 2 feet high gilded tooth which was then placed outside a Dental Surgery near Southampton.

                                                            

 

                                      The six feet high Osprey catching a Pike Bronze - the Risen Christ statue and the 'gold tooth'                                       

 

It is quite understandable why Ian particularly enjoys producing his wildlife sculptures, when wild Badgers, Foxes, Squirrels and Deer are regular visitors to his studio often whilst he is working, on occasions they also bring their young with them who can then be found running around his studio. These visits also gives Ian the rather unique opportunity of studying the wildlife close at hand which is often the subject of his sculptures, the studio being built at the edge of woodlands in a nature reserve.

                                                                     

 

Various wildlife both inside and outside Ian's studio

 

Although Ian's furniture making days are long gone the old skills learnt are occasionally still put to good use, as he was commissioned to make the Pascal candle-stand for St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Made from oak and designed to suit the splendour of this Medieval Chapel, the carved and gilded oak Pascal candle-stand was completed in time to be lit in a special ceremony by HM the Queen during the annual Easter service, before it was placed in front of the High Altar in Windsor Castle.   

 

The Pascal Candle Stand commissioned for the High Alter in St George's Chapel Windsor Castle.

carved and gilded Oak - 65 inches high

Ian now often works on a number of different commissions in two separate studios, one for bronze the other for wood carvings often on the same day. This process going from one sculpture to another throughout the week enables him to see each one completely afresh. " The total contrast between perhaps one day working on a life size wax sculpture of a swimming otter for a bronze, to then perhaps carving a jewel encrusted Crown for a Queen," is what makes his work so enjoyable”. His commissions have also often been as diverse as carving an ten feet high Bald Eagle for an American Corporation, to a life size statue of the Risen Christ for a local church, a five feet high Lion Figure head for a Museum, to carving from elm wood a large gilded tooth which was then placed outside a Dental Surgery near Southampton; more recently Ian was commissioned to produce two large bas-relief sculptures now placed amongst the grandeur and elegance of the Grand Lobby of Cunard's new Liner Queen Victoria.

 

HM The Queen's daughter, The Princess Royal taking an interest in the relief woodcarving of the village of Warsash in Hampshire UK which was recently placed above the Vestry in St Mary's Church Warsash. 

 ( lime wood 10 feet wide ) 

 

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St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle

 

Ian G Brennan was invited to Windsor Castle to give a talk about the various aspects of his work as a sculptor. The informal talk which took place in the centuries old nave of  St George's Chapel which is not only one of the most revered hallowed Royal shrines of the British Monarchy, but also one of the most beautiful buildings of its kind in the world, rich in history and a place of prayer.

This subject of Ian's talk was to be not only about the large variety of different sculptures he has produced for the Royal Household, but also how he was first to discovered his by then unknown ability to be able to carve, after his business was totally destroyed in a fire and that he was totally self taught as a wood carver and sculptor. Although many members of the audience in St George's Chapel at Windsor were aware that Ian had created most of the sculptures for the Choir in the Chapel, very few were aware of how his career as sculptor first started.

 

A small selection of the variety of wood carvings and bronze sculpture by Ian G Brennan on exhibition in St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle

 

After being introduced to the audience in the Chapel by the Dean of Windsor at 2.00 pm, Ian walked to the centre of the Chapel to begin his talk, he then suddenly noticed a beautifully ancient fabric frontal which covered the Alter, this Alter cloth was richly embroidery with a stunning image of a 'Phoenix rising from the Ashes'; The date of Ian's talk also happened to be May 7, the very day of the devastating fire all those years ago and being 2.00 pm was exactly 21 years ago to the minute he discovered the shape of the leaping dolphin burnt out of the old wooden beam lying amongst the rubble;  Ian had come of age.

Click image to enlarge

 

 

The Phoenix Rising Alter Frontal in St George's Chapel Windsor Castle

 

 

 

It is said to some success comes easily, to others they have to work hard for it, but to Ian it came as such a great surprise. No one especially Ian would have thought  that a fire which totally destroyed his business would at the same time release his dormant and then unknown natural ability to be a sculptor, all quickly followed by many unusual and unexpected twists and turns and not forgetting lucky breaks. He would then go on to receive over 85 unique commissions from the British Royal Household and that his sculptures would then be found in Windsor Castle, Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral, Museums and private art collections all over the World.... 

 

So if you also then add these amazing lucky breaks, a great deal of determination with an unusual natural ability to be able to teach himself to carve and cast a wide variety of different subjects in many different mediums, Ian has now managed to achieved things which he never realised he was ever capable off. If only Ian could have realised on that fateful day of the fire when he was digging amongst the burnt out rubble of his business trying desperately to find anything he could salvaging, that exactly 21 years he would be standing in Windsor Castle in front of such a distinguished audience talking about a totally new unexpected career.

 

 

                                                                      

 

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