This is not one of mine. It was carved by my sister in law, Lesley Francklow, who is also a student of Mike Painter. I have included it on the web site, not through any sense of family loyalty, but because I really like the design. The execution is not bad either! I’ll let Les tell it in her own words.

A few years ago I was lucky enough to visit South Africa and came across a gem of a shop on the V & A waterfront in Cape Town. They sold gold and silver jewelery, much of it designed by Simon Shone, a goldsmith whose work is inspired by the beauty and wild life of South Africa. Many of his pendants feature one or more of the “big five” animals combined with a map of the country and that is where the idea for the carving came from.

An outline of Africa was traced onto a large thick piece of lime and cut out on the band saw and the lion’s head penciled in. The main features of the head were then roughed out,levels established, and the features gradually refined with some help from Mike.

Where possible, the more prominent lakes rivers and mountains were hinted at and the piece was finished with Danish Oil. The mane and eyes were lightly stained to give some contrast.

I was pleased with the finished result and I am now working on a similar piece featuring all of the big five animals.