Kathryn O'Kell
Kathryn O’Kell
Her beautifully crafted wooden panels, usually of birds, are all carved from lime. Working directly on the wood using hand tools, she prefers not to work to specific designs but respond to the carving as it develops. Any colouring develops gradually as paint is layered and rubbed back, metal leaf sometimes added and the surfaces then burnished until the desired effect is achieved. The carved marks are also important and she uses paint to emphasise the actual process of carving. The scale of her carvings range from tiny domestic pieces to large panels and architectural pieces.