“I spend the winter in Andalucia, Spain & was offered a massive chunk of olive wood to carve (in return for chopping down the dead tree). Olive wood is a beautiful material to work with, when green. However, once seasoned, it is hellish; the chainsaw bounces off it. It is a very hard dense wood that takes a fine, smooth finish. It has fabulous colours in it – streaks of pink, chocolate brown & yellow, in a marbled pattern. Whilst working outside on it, in the Andalucian sun, it gave off a gorgeous smell of olive oil. “Beasts” arose out of this piece of wood; a few creatures in there. I carried on working on it back in Scotland, giving it three oak legs. It almost became a piece of abstract furniture. But not quite.”