Dear Readers, you might remember me being delighted with this statue when it first appeared outside East Finchley Methodist Church back in February. The hope then was that children would love it, and it seems that they do, because the pupils of Martin Primary School have named all the animals that appear on it, except for the poor rabbit. I am temporarily christening him ‘Radicchio’ because it’s my favourite lettuce, and because it’s great fun to say.
Sabina the Fox
Samir the Squirrel
Wendy the Hedgehog
Bob the mouse (with the temporarily-monikered Radicchio the Rabbit)
And Amira the Owl
While I was stomping around the garden with my camera, the very nice man who was clearing the church guttering while standing at the top of a rather precipitous ladder peered down.
“And to think”, he said, “that the bloke that did it did it with a chainsaw”.
Indeed. Well done to Simon O’Rourke, who has created a local landmark that I’m sure people will admire and love for many years to come.
I admired this the first time you featured it and am glad to have another look at this remarkable work – done with a chain saw!
It’s certainly a beautiful statue and obviously creating some interest. I think I may have mentioned that they have an annual chainsaw sculpture competition at Thyon 2000. I’m sure I must have posted some of the items they’ve left behind. That’s not to mention of course our (ex-)local expert M. Hugo Beytrison, Here’s a video clip of him in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irEMEl6eQtA
Such a lovely work of art. Thank you for sharing it!