1998 Plaque Progress: Carving Complete

Above is a photo of the completed carving for the 1998 Form plaque.  The photos below show details of the finished carving:

The center of the carving features the State House dome with the initials MLK in the tympanum. This represents the march from SPS to the State House on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (which was then called Civil Rights Day) to encourage the addition of MLK’s name to the New Hampshire State Holiday.

In the upper right corner features an open book with the initials CBA to represent the beginning of the Right Reverend Dr. Craig Barry Anderson’s term as Eleventh Rector of St. Paul’s School.

The upper left corner shows a trophy with the Roman numerals IV representing the four sports teams that won New England championships that school year – field hockey, wrestling, boys’ crew, and girls’ crew.

In the lower center portion of the plaque there is a carving of a shield featuring an element from the coat-of-arms from the Henley-on-Thames Town Hall. This represents the boy’s and girl’s crew teams trip to the Henley Regatta – the girls’ team winning the Peabody Cup.

The lower left and right sides of the plaque feature four carved feathers – each representing one of the Quad dorms that were renovated and re-dedicated on October 3, 1997.  Each of the dorms has a stone carving representing a different bird – an owl for Manville, a pelican for Simpson, a rooster for Brewster, and an eagle for Ford – feathers are shown from each kind of bird.

Once the carving has been sealed with a linseed oil finish it will be ready for the painting process to begin.Check back in a few weeks for a sneak peek photo of the finished plaque.

1998 Form Plaque Progress: Design Complete

The design stage is complete for the 1998 Form plaque. I worked with a representative of the Form of 1998 to come up with a list of events, and the following design elements were chosen:

1998 Form Plaque Design Elements

Plaque designs traditionally incorporate one world news event and three to five School events.

World Event:

• Center: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – the march from SPS to State House to encourage the addition of MLK’s name to the State Holiday. This is shown as the State House dome with the initials MLK in the tympanum.

School Events:

• Upper right: An open book with the initials CBA to represent the beginning of the Right Reverend Dr. Craig Barry Anderson term as Eleventh Rector of St. Paul’s School.
• Upper left: A trophy with the Roman numerals IV representing the four sports teams that won New England championships that school year – Field Hockey, Wrestling, Boys’ Crew, and Girls’ Crew.
• Lower center: A shield featuring an element from the coat-of-arms from the Henley-on-Thames Town Hall representing that the boy’s and girl’s crew teams went to the Henley Regatta – the girls’ team winning the Peabody cup.
• Lower left and right: Four feathers represent each of the Quad dorms that were renovated and re-dedicated on October 3, 1997.  Each of the dorms has a stone carving representing a different bird – an owl for Manville, a pelican for Simpson, a rooster for Brewster, and an eagle for Ford – so feathers are shown from each kind of bird.

I will begin working on carving the plaque next and will post images of the carving as the work progresses.

The Form of 1996 Plaque

Here is a photograph of the plaque for the Form of 1996.  I recently completed the carving, stained and sealed the wood and mounted it in its frame.  It will now be displayed in the Lower Dining Hall of Coit (New Upper) and will hang above the panels that contain the names of all the members of the Form of 1996.  Beneath the photo below is a description of the symbols used in the design.

The central design celebrates the development of the Humanities program and is represented by an owl perched on a book, with pen, pencil and brush behind it.  The owl is a symbol of wisdom, and the pen/pencil/brush symbols represent the arts and literature. The book that the owl is perched on is a symbol for learning and represents the history, philosophy, and religion aspects of the Humanities program. In the upper left corner an ‘at’ (@) key from a computer keyboard is carved to symbolize the first School assigned email addresses for students. The upper right corner of the plaque has a closed book with initials DVH representing the end of Tenth Rector David Verne Hicks’ Rectorship. In the lower right section of the plaque a woman’s symbol with the Roman numerals ‘XXV’ carved inside it represent the 25^th anniversary of co-education at St. Paul’s School.

Form of 1996 Plaque Design & Progress

The design stage for the 1996 Form plaque design was completed a few months ago.  After working with the Form Director a list of events was chosen to illustrate the 6th Form experiences of the Form of 1996:

The design elements are as follows:

•  Central Motif:  The development of the Humanities program is represented by an owl perched on a book, with pen, pencil and brush behind it.  The owl symbol is for wisdom, the pen/pencil/brush symbols represent arts and literature, and the book symbol is for learning (history, philosophy, and religion).
•  Upper Left:  An ‘at’ (@) key from a computer keyboard to symbolize the first School assigned email addresses for students.
•  Upper Right: The closed book with initials DVH representing the end of David Hicks’ leadership as tenth Rector.
• Lower Right:  A woman’s symbol with ‘XXV’ inside to represent the 25^th anniversary of co-education.

I am currently working on the carving process – following are a few photos of the progress:

This shows the carving in its current state – it has been roughed out, the background levels established, the rough carving done, and many areas are being worked into their finished state.

This shows a detail of the owl – much of the detail still needs to be worked on.

This photo shows the details of the feet and talons that are being cleaned up.

This detail shows the @ key, the @ symbol still needs to be carved into the surface.

This last photograph shows the symbol for coeducation and the book that will be carved with David V. Hicks’ initials.

I will have this plaque with me at Anniversary on June 2nd, although it won’t be entirely complete.  I will post more pictures here when the carving is finished, stained and sealed.

UPDATE – July 19, 2012: Pictures and details of the finished carving can be seen in the Form Plaque Gallery by clicking HERE.