2012 Form Plaque Progress: Carving Complete

The carving process for the 2012 Form plaque is complete.  Below are some photographs of the carving process, with details of the finished carving as well.

This first photograph shows the design layout on the plaque blank, with outlines in place as guides for roughing out the background.

This shows the plaque after being roughed out with a small format router.  This sets an even depth for the background of the plaque. From this point forward all the carving is done using hand tools.

A big jump to the finished carving – after many, many hours of work the fine details are all in place.  I first carve the rough shapes for the entire design and then refine each element to its finished state.

This detail shows the book with Mr. Hirschfeld’s initials – marking the beginning of his Rectorship.  The World Trade Center towers are on the right of the photograph with the 10th anniversary date of the 9/11 terrorist attack.

This detail shows the Delphian symbol – winners of the Club Cup for the 2011/2012 School year.

The Lindsay Center for Mathematics and Science is shown in this detail.

The snowman and Jack-O-lantern representing the Halloween storm that blanketed Millville in deep snow.

The next stage in the process involves sealing the plaque with oil and then painting it and adding the protective finish.  The next time you will be able to see the plaque will be Anniversary weekend at the beginning of June of 2013.  I’m looking forward to finishing the plaque and sharing it with all the members of the Form of 2012!

2012 Form Plaque Progress: Design Complete

The design stage is complete for the 2012 Form plaque. I worked with members of the Form of 2012 during the previous School year to come up with a list of events, and the following was chosen by them to represent the 6th Form experiences of the Form of 2012:

• Upper left:  An open book with the initials MGH. The book symbol represents the Rural Record, a diary of day-to-day School life that was kept from 1857 into the early twentieth century.  Michael Hirschfeld’s initials are incorporated on the pages of the  open book, symbolizing the beginning of his Rectorship and representing the recording of the event of the change in leadership into School history.
• Upper right: The symbol for the Delphians – the Greek letter Delta surrounded by a laurel wreath – winners of the Club Cup competition.
• Upper center and middle left: The World Trade Center towers and the date 9/11/11 – marking the tenth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attack.
• Lower right: A snowman holding a Jack-o-lantern representing the big snowstorm on Halloween – the only significant snowstorm of the winter season.
• Lower left and center:  The Lindsay Center for Mathematics and Science, dedicated on November 29, 2011.

I will now begin working on the carving process, with the plan to have the finished plaque to present at Anniversary weekend in June this year.  Photos of the process will be posted on the blog, so stay tuned for more information!

The Form of 2011 Plaque

Here is a photograph of the completed plaque for the Form of 2011.  It is being dedicated on June 2, 2012 and hangs in the Middle Dining Hall of Coit (The Upper) above the panels that contain the names of all the members of the Form of 2011.  Below the photo is the description of the elements incorporated in the plaque design.

In 2011 the revival of the Club Cup competition was the big event of the school year.  The cup itself is represented in the center of the plaque with the symbol above it of the winning club, the Delphians – the Greek letter Delta surrounded by a laurel wreath.  In the upper left of the plaque a closed book is carved with the initials WRM which represents the end of Twelfth Rector William R. Matthews’ Rectorship.  The book symbolizes the Rural Record, a journal of day-to-day life at St. Paul’s School that was kept from 1857 up into the early 20th century.  The upper right corner of the plaque has a map of Japan with circles radiating out from the epicenter of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that occurred in March of 2011.  The lower left and right sections of the plaque represent the crew team competing at the Henley Royal Regatta in June of 2011.  A shield super-imposed above and to the left of the crew team features an element from the coat-of-arms from the Henley-on-Thames Town Hall.

Form of 2011 Plaque Progress: Carving Completed

The carving stage is now complete for the Form of 2011 plaque. Here are a few photos showing the finished carving:

This detail shows the waves and water surrounding the crew team – representing the trip to Henley.

This detail shows the closed book with Mr. Matthews’ initials representing the end of his term as Rector, and a portion of the Delphian emblem representing their Club Cup victory.

The next stage of the process involves sealing the wood and adding the painted finish.

From here forward the project will go undercover: The completed plaque – with painted finish and mounted in its frame – will be kept a secret until it can be unveiled during the 2012 Anniversary Weekend celebration in June of 2012.  Details to follow as we get closer to the date.

I will now begin work on carving plaques for the Forms missing plaques from the last twenty years.  In the works are designs and plaques for the Forms of 1996, 2001 and 2006.  Progress on those plaques will be documented here as with the 2011 plaque, so check back often to see how things are progressing.

Form of 2011 Plaque Progress: Beginning Carving

The following photos show the progress so far on the Form of 2011 plaque. The photo above shows the design outline transferred onto the plaque blank.  Just the major design elements are transferred at this point.

The photo above shows the plaque after the background has been removed using a small format router.  This very rough stage is smoothed over using carving tools, and the outlines are then cleaned up and refined.

Here is a photo of me adding some of the initial detail to the plaque design – the laurel wreath around the Delphian Delta is starting to take shape.

In this photo you can see the finished football center left, and the map of Japan top right.  The book with Mr. Matthews’ initials is almost complete at this stage.

More details need to be added and the lower section needs to take shape, so there is still quite a bit to be done before this carving is complete.  I will update with more photos soon.

Form of 2011 Plaque Progress

The rough draft of the design for the  2011 Form plaque is completed and work has begun preparing the wood for carving.  The picture above shows the piece of basswood that will be used for carving the 2011 plaque.  I cut out the distinctive quatrefoil shape using a scroll saw and am using three grades of Japanese files to smooth the edges and finish the carving blank.  Once this stage is complete I will transfer the design onto the wood and begin the actual carving process.

The 2010/2011 school year at SPS provided some very interesting events to record on the plaque.  The design themes chosen by the student representatives for the Form of 2011 include the following:

•  Central Motif:  The Club Cup was the big event of the school year.  It will be represented in the center of the plaque with the symbol above it of the winner of this year’s club competition (congratulations Delphians!).
• Upper Left:  A closed book will be shown with the initials WRM representing the end of Mr. Matthews’ Rectorship.  The book symbolizes the Rural Record, a journal of day-to-day life at SPS that was kept from the very beginning of the School up into the early 20th century.  The book with initials is symbolic of the recoding the change of leadership in School history .  You can read more about the Rural Record by clicking HERE.
• Upper Right: A map of Japan with circles radiating out from the epicenter will be shown to represent the devastating earthquake and tsunami that occurred there earlier this year.
• Lower Right and Left:  This section of the design will represent the crew team competing at the Henley Royal Regatta this June.  A shield super-imposed above and to the left of the crew team will feature an element from the coat-of-arms from the Henley-on-Thames Town Hall.

Very special thanks to Ellie, Joe, Sam, Harvey and Meredith for their help with the design themes!