Last year two of my favourite people got married! And to each other no less! And they built a house! So I thought long and hard about what to give them for the wedding. Money is always good, but something self-made is personal and unique.

The summer before, we drove to a local farm together because they wanted to adopt a kitten. They found theirs and I fell in love with mine and very spontaneously decided to adopt her. Which was one of the best decisions I ever made. She brings me joy every day!

Perfect for basing a wedding gift on, right? RIGHT!

After some research and surfing for inspiration, I settled on a cat-statue, for their soon to be garden! And this is the story of that statue!

We set up a tent in the backyard and I gathered my father’s old carving utensils and some coal chalk and set off on my adventure. I had not worked with AAC in a loooooong time.

The first steps were brutal for my forearms. Sawing the basic form out of the block. It was quite warm, too, and the sawdust kept sticking to everything. This was actually a constant for the time of this project: dust everywhere. My clothes, my feet, my hands, my arms, my face, my hair, my teeth. No pain, no gain, I guess!

Once that was done, I could get started with the different rasps. And after more sweat and more dust, slowly but surely, a cat began to form.

Then came the point, when I had to start working inward. So far, it had mostly been 2D carving. Now it had to turn into a 3D shaped cat. Scary! But with some pointers from my father, who studied art some 40 years ago, and taught it for quite a while, I managed to carve out a lumpy-looking cat.

The scariest thing was the face. Because I was actually happy with the rest of the body, BUT WHAT IF I MESS UP THE FACE? ALL WILL BE RUINED. It took me a while to muster up the courage to start the face. I kept tiptoeing around the statue and flattened this edge and that rounded out that corner and stared at the not-yet-existing face. But then the wedding date came closer and closer and I had to get it done!

It looks nothing like I imagined it, neither before nor during the carving. It’s some form of rural cat-god-head and I like it.

I smoothed out some edges after these pictures and then brushed it with clear coating that keeps water from running into the cracks and moss off it.

Then I printed out the best photos and framed them and brought that to the wedding. Because the statue itself is big and heavy. They loved it and it now sits in the living-room of their brand-new house until the garden is ready!

So that’s the story of the cat statue and how I rediscovered my love for masonry. I will definitely try another carving project this year! There is one garden-lover’s wedding coming up, but I haven’t had any inspiration yet. We’ll see.