YESTERDAY - MY SWEET LORD

I have been busy over the last few weeks putting together these items. Most of which will be for sale soon on my new blog, that I am putting together. The first two pieces are carved into Yew tree wood and both have a Beatles theme.

THE YEW TREE

Firstly a little about the Yew tree. In old age they have a distinctive gnarled shape with some branches curving down to the ground and taking root. There has been a long association of yew trees in churchyards and there are at least 500 churchyards in England which contain yew trees which are older than the church itself. It is not known why there is this link but there are many theories- from yews being planted over the graves of plague victims to protect and purify the dead; to the more mundane in that yews could be planted in churchyards as it was one of the only places that cattle did not have access and therefore would not be poisoned by eating the leaves. Yew trees are taken as symbols of immortality in many traditions, but are also seen as omens of doom. For many centuries it was the custom for yew branches to be carried on Palm Sunday and at funerals. In Ireland, it was said that the yew was ‘the coffin of the vine’ as wine barrels were made of yew staves.

YESTERDAY

Yesterday is the most covered Beatles song of all time (over 2000 covers), from the album HELP. According to Paul McCartney who wrote the song he came up with the melody in a dream. McCartney's initial concern was that he had subconsciously plagiarised someone else's work. As he put it, "For about a month I went round to people in the music business and asked them whether they had ever heard it before. Eventually it became like handing something in to the police. I thought if no-one claimed it after a few weeks then I could have it."Upon being convinced that he had not robbed anyone of his melody, McCartney began writing words to suit it. As Lennon and McCartney were known to do at the time, a substitute working lyric, titled "Scrambled Eggs" (the working opening verse was "Scrambled Eggs/Oh, my baby how I love your legs"), was used for the song until something more suitable was written. In his biography, McCartney recalled: "First of all I checked this melody out, and people said to me, 'it's lovely, and I'm sure it's all yours.' It took me a little while to allow myself to claim it, but then like a prospector I finally staked my claim; stuck a little sign on it and said, 'Okay, it's mine!'.

Anyway I came across a small wind up music box, which played 'YESTERDAY'. Which gave me the idea, for the work. If you look to the bottom left I have attached the music box to the carving. So you could say its a musical sign in more ways then one.

MY SWEET LORD

"My Sweet Lord" is a song by former Beatles and now sadly dead, George Harrison. Recorded and released in 1970 on his multi-platinum triple album All Things Must Pass. It was released as a single, and topped the charts worldwide and was the biggest-selling single of 1971 in Britain.

DRIFT WOOD

I have had this piece of drift wood for a very long time now. My wife Judith and I, found it on the south coast, can't remember where exactly. But I thought I would try yo carve into it. Drift wood is not ideal to carve, it is far to spongy and soft. But the finished effect, for my sea cadet daughter Shannon, works well.

CHINESE LETTERING
The first one is carved into Magnolia wood, an of cut from a previous carving. It is my understanding that the letters mean "TREE OF LIFE". But not being expert in Chinese, it could say something else. I just hope its not anything rude.

The second is carved into a wood called Zebrano, sometimes known as Zebra wood. The wood resembles the striping on a Zebra.

Zebrawood is considered a threatened species in its native habitat. Its fast-growing popularity in the West has resulted in some reforestation efforts, but these are not keeping up with the pace of harvesting. The extensive use of zebrawood in the exclusive designer shop Prada, Manhattan, New York. Resulted in protests from environmentalists and a promise from Prada never to use wood from endangered forests again. Again I believe this Chinese symbol means "TREE".