Newport woodcarver Chris Wood is finally living the dream

The aptly-named expert woodcarver and metal worker lists a memorial sculpture to mark the Llanerch colliery disaster, a bench disguised as a weary war veteran, and a ‘Super Dragon’ at Celtic Manor golf course as just some of the many pieces he is proud of.

His carvings have garnered the attention of communities in the region, and - deprived of trips across the world to take part in woodcarving competitions which have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic - he is using the lockdown to tackle his next creation – dedicated to the Black Rock lave net fishermen.

But life hasn’t always been this good for Mr Wood – written off by many when he was a teenager as “fit for the dole queue”.

Now aged 50, and reflecting on over 30 years of graft, he says “I’ve spent so many years on my a***, but seeing how emotionally-charged people seem to get about some of the stuff I do now makes it all worth it.”

A modest man from Underwood, he recalls his youth as a “terrible time”.

“I was dyslexic and was written off at school, but it was a different time and people didn’t know much about dyslexia then,” he remembers. “I wasn't good at maths and English and all I enjoyed was wood and metal work, but it wasn’t really an accepted thing in those days that you could make a career for yourself in arts and crafts.

“I left school at 16 and I finally was able to get a test for dyslexia, and then a diagnosis. It was an unbelievable moment for me and the time my life had really begun.

(The creation that Chris took to the English Open in 2018. He has previously been placed second twice in the competition)

“I went and did my A-levels at night school at Nash Tech (Coleg Gwent) while I was working on the side, and it was the first time a tutor had treated me like a proper human being.

“I wrote my first ever essay there, and my tutor said he would mark me by the message I was trying to convey rather than my spelling, and I managed to get a decent grade.”

By the time he was 28 - the year he picked up a chainsaw for the first time - he had been made redundant five times and decided it was time to do whatever he could to make a living doing what he loved.

“On my 30th birthday I managed to get a grant from the Princes Trust,” he said. “I was working in my little workshop near George Street Bridge at the time. It wasn’t pretty but it did the job.

“I spent years just doing whatever I could to get my work noticed; drawing, sculpting, painting – you name it.

(Chris Wood with his war veteran bench, outside the Hanbury Arms pub)

“Fifteen years ago I managed to get a bit of a break. I was doing some sculpting in a field in Newport and kids from the local schools were being brought to see it while I was working.

“More and more people started coming and I started getting messages from people asking if I could do work for them.

“Suddenly I was doing mosaics, paintings and murals, but it’s only in the last few years that it’s really taken off for me.”

After moving to his much-improved workshop in Caerleon in 2007, Mr Wood’s creations have become even better, and have taken him all over the world.

(Chris at the Lithuanian Open - left - and the English Open)

“All my creations have got their own problems and emotions, and it can be hard mentally to create some of them,” he said.

“I become so emotionally-invested in them and they take lots of research so I can get the expressions absolutely right. My recent ones about the World War One veteran and the colliery disaster are two prime examples. I didn’t foresee it being so difficult to process that information.”

In the last few years he has won prizes at chainsaw sculpture competitions at the English Open, the Sandringham Cup and the US Open in Wisconsin, improving his stock further – but his greatest fans are still in Gwent, where his work is regularly shared on social media.

(The next creation which will be dedicated to the lave net fishermen at Black Rock)

“It’s amazing,” he added, “it’s a wonderful feeling when the work you do has an impact on people. It’s the most important factor for me because the carvings belong to the communities. They’ll always have my mark on them but I want to gift them to people in Gwent.”

Asked what advice he would give for someone struggling at school, but interested in artwork, he said: “Believe in yourself, get yourself on a training course, and work hard. There are more opportunities out there now than when I was a boy.

“Art is such a hard industry to earn money in, and sometimes it is a struggle, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”