The Green Man

[chillicamper]

I've always been interested in the Green Man. For those who don't know him, he's a sculpture, drawing, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. He's mostly seen as a decorative ornament on buildings, frequently found on carvings in churches and other buildings.

The Green Man has many variations and seems to be found in many cultures around the world. Primarily he is said to be a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of growth each spring.

I have made one clock with a green man image, but I am looking for other sources of inspiration for some possible wood burning or carving. If anyone happens upon an image of a green man it would be great if you could post it up.

Here's the green man clock I made,

wooden stuff 019r.jpg

along with a few other green man images I like.

GreenManMaskprint.jpg

Greenmanp.jpg

[ChristianBecker]

Do they have to be leaves only? If not, a google image search of "Vertumnus" yields some interesting results.

[janet]

http://www.commonground.org.uk/
Is a brilliant website where you should find the Green Man in abundance.
Basing a design closely on one in a church near you would be good......many old churches have them.
Interesting project. Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

[chillicamper]

Do they have to be leaves only? If not, a google image search of "Vertumnus" yields some interesting results.

Oooh.....that's interesting! I have mainly been sticking to lookang at green men with leaves, as I am not sure that my artistic prowess will cope with anything more complicated Mind you have seen some Green Men images with berries as well as leaves.

http://www.commonground.org.uk/
Is a brilliant website where you should find the Green Man in abundance.
Basing a design closely on one in a church near you would be good......many old churches have them.
Interesting project. Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

Thanks Janet....interesting site. I will have a dig around!

[Jan Van Quirm]

Here's my King of Coins tarot card design - Coins/Pentacles respresent the element of Earth so the Green Man was a shoo-in for that



He also gets a little mixed in with Cernunnos and Herne the Hunter as well in some cultural motifs although not with such predatory overtones

[Del]

Oh wow Chilli... I ahve never met anyone before that did wood burning too. One slip and its over hey?

I did it for a few years off and on yearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs ago... until I married my hubby and he used the tool and all the tips I had collected to use for soldering on his sound desks (he was an recording/audio engineer)

Do you only do line work or do you shade too? Shading is tricky but heaps of fun and satisfying.

[chillicamper]

I do do some shading as well. I'm not that artisitic, Mainly working off copied stencils etc. My sister is a better artist and she does some burning too. Together with her partner, we have set up a small evening business selling bits n pieces we make (http://www.iwoodlovethat.co.uk). Never gonna make that much money, but I find just working with wood and burning so calming.

wooden stuff 1 001 vs.jpg

wooden stuff 2 001 v2.jpg

wooden stuff 3 v2.jpg

[spideyGirl]

Lovely carvings chillicamper!

[raisindot]

This is the only Green Man I'm aware of.

[chillicamper]

EEEK! If I try and burn or carve that on to wood, I think the wood's gonna run away!