The Carved Headboard

Once upon a time back in the late '80's I carved this headboard for my bed.... The 2" thick pine planks came from a tree that had grown not far from the house, across the brook up on the hill. They had dried for a year and were straight and true.... Now they would be made into a bed....

I was excited to begin.

The planks were glued together on their edges and clamped.... Shaped with a large 5' tall curved section in the center with two shallow curves on either side.... It was for a queen size bed.

When it was dry I drew a design of interwoven vines and flowers on the large center curved section. I used wood carving tools called gouges and an old hunting knife with a curve in the blade to cut out the design. I liked the hunting knife as it kept a keen edge....

It was very time consuming ... but not in a bad way.... rather meditative.... I did have to keep an eye out for the direction that the grain ran.... 'cause if I didn't, my gouges would splinter parts of the wood or they would skip across the plane of the lumber and cut where it shouldn't.... When I had it all carved, I smoothed it with sandpaper in grades that finally arrived at the finest.... I rubbed oil into the thirsty wood... it glistened.... I buffed it with a soft cotton cloth... it gleamed...

I was happy.

Then it was done....

It felt so good when I laid in my bed in a half awake state and rubbed my hands across it.... Soothing....
I knew I had done it with my own hands. It made me feel good to know that...

I thought I would sleep in that bed for the rest of my life.... but I never .... things don't always last as long as you hope.... so cherish every moment....

It and the house it stood in only existed for a short time... only the ashes remain.




* Note:  I only have this photograph because the negative  was  on a roll of my film that was at the Craft school  I was attending at the time...