pulpit

[mark yundt]

I did this piece several years ago but never bothered to photograph it. I was called back to the church for more work there so I decided to take a few pics.

I was originally commissioned to build it from scratch which I was all set to do. Then the priest found a frame at another church and asked me to use it.It was ugly and plain Jane. So I had to take it apart,,repair it,strip other areas,,do all the carvings for the raised panel inserts ( which I had to make) do all the other carvings ,modify it to go where we needed it to fit,,,build the stairs,,put in a parquet floor,,make the book shelf and add the eagle carving to support that as well....and,,and,,and,,,

Basically it would have been easier to just build it from scratch.

Now I have to build wall mounted pedestals to hold some statues that will match the main Altar. I want everything to look as if it were made at the same time and has been there since day one. I'll use the elements from the altar to build the new stands which will be mounted adjacent to it,with the statues 10-12 feet up.

Well anyway,,here it is,,I think it came out pretty well ,,all things considered. It's all white oak,,laquer finish ( poly on the stairs) . It's a bit out of the ordinary and thought you might like seeing it.

[cannuckcarver]

Wow Mark it is awesome...
Thanks for sharring.

[heineda]

Mark,

I am speechless. That is amzing work, like the old masters used to do in Europe. Very, VERY nice. Do you teach carving?

Thanks,
Dan Heine

[fpace]

Lol Mark! you should be able to retire off that one! Beautiful!

[mark yundt]

Thank you Cannuckcarver,,it's my pleasure.

Fred,,RETIRE OFF IT?,,more like I LOST MY SHIRT. All the $ the priest "saved" I think came directly out of my pocket. But,,it's there and I can say I did it,,barely,,but I did it. I guess I didn't photograph it ( like so much of my work) because some jobs you would rather forget. I did love doing it though. Presented many challenges and problems I had to solve. Too bad you can't take that to the bank,,pride in a job well done. Oh well,,on to the next one.

Daniel,,no I don't currently give classes.But I have been thinking about possibly starting them. I'm just haven't given much thought as to how to go about finding anyone who might be interested ,,if there is any interest at all. I'm basically a no name carver in Pa. doing my own thing all these years.

[mdallensr]

HI Mark: Good to hear from you. Religion isn't recession-proof, but it's probably a lot better than some market segments. Beautiful work, even though it was probably penny-wise and dollar-foolish for the church. Thansk for posting. Mike

[vacation212]

SmileBeautiful work you must be very proud to be blessed with such talent.

[chipper67]

Mark,

I would bet you would not have any trouble finding students who would want to study under a master carver like you. I just wished you lived a little closer like southeast South Dakota. I would for sure sign up to take a class. I have an idea. Why do you not seriously think about doing some sort of DVD, step-by-step carving of something. Heck, think how much time you sit at your computer on this site. You have offered a great deal of information to us and I really appreciate it. Now, I have no idea as to the expense in doing it, but you never know what it could turn into. That way your expertise and knowledge could reach a far greater mass of want-to-be woodcarvers like me. Or, a book would be great too. I'll be the first to buy a copy.

Chipper67

[doris]

wow mark ! oh really something to be proud of, that is beautiful, i am so glad you got the new offer for work there, and took opportunity to make pictures of your former work for us to see :-) ... to me is always interesting to get a view of how your churches look inside. this one is like it could be here somewhere, a good deal rokokoelements in there, but we usually have not so colorful statues, mostly plain stone, or in dark woods with or without gold. but our churches seem be all huge compared to the one you show here. thanks for sharing these pics, and thanks also for sharing the statue restoration pics in the other thread, i downloaded them into my inspiration folder, so i have more examples for folds... (btw i never heard the expression "it was plain jane" would be interesting to know what jane (and which one?) has to do with it...)

[tnartist05]

Mark theres only two carvers on this board that can do this type of work,you and Fred and both of you are masters with the skills and talents in this field.

Excellent work indeed. Forrest