By Conor Sharkey

WOOD to me is wood. It all looks the same and feels the same. But when put in the hands of Strabane man Liam Kennedy, a piece of what looks like scrap timber can be transformed into something like an Irish bodhran player, a beautiful family of swans or a pair of lovers entwined.

Following retirement from teaching woodwork at St Colman's High School ten years ago, Liam took up the hobby of wood carving. Today he is again making a living out of education, this time passing on his extensive knowledge of the art of carving to students across the North West.

Following his highly successful debut exhibition in Pilots Row, Derry, I caught up with Liam to learn more about whittling, carving and turning.

Explaining how his career in carpentry began and how it could all have been very different, Liam said, "When I left school, I went to study at St Joseph's Teacher Training College in Belfast. I had always played a lot of sport, so when the time came for us to pick what subjects we wanted to pursue, my options were either PE or woodwork. There was around 60 of us vying for places, so I counted along the line to see who looked a bit sporty and who didn't. I realised I had a better chance of getting into woodwork, so I opted for the craft course," he said.

While Liam made a living out of teaching woodwork, he only took up the challenge of learning to carve when he retired.

"I gave up teaching ten years ago and when you retire, you need something to keep you occupied. So, I started out by going to Pilots Row in Derry where a guy called Seighean O'Draoai was giving lessons. I showed an interest in carving and he took me under his wing. After I finished that course I went to Limavady Technical College where they were running a traditional craft course. I did that two days a week for 18 months and after I completed the course, Seighean came back to me and asked if I would like to take over his class at Pilots Row. I've been teaching there for the past three years and I also run a class out at Strabane Technical College," he said.

To look at Liam's work, the logical conclusion would be that the wood he uses comes already planed and shaped. Not the case at all.

"I use whatever I can get my hands on basically. I've pulled lumps of wood out of a bog in Conemarra and I've carved pieces using wood taken from Cranagh Chapel. A lot of the time, friends would leave bits and pieces of wood at my front door and I would use that. So, really, you just pick it up as you go along."

While Liam doesn't concentrate on any particular subject when carving, a lot of his work has a traditional Irish theme.

"I just carve whatever I feel like. If I feel like carving birds, or an Irish fiddler or a religious piece, that's what I do. A lot of my work has been Irish Bodhran players, fiddlers or a St Patrick or St Colmcille but it really depends on the mood I'm in at the time," he said.

A single carving generally takes three to four weeks to complete and normally sell at prices ranging from £25 to £400.

While Liam maintains that to make a living out of carving would be virtually impossible, he also revealed that some of his customers have come from the farthest reaches of the globe.

"The market just isn't out there for this sort of thing, especially not in Ireland. But I have a brother in America and I would send him Irish themed pieces from time to time and he sells them for me. I've also sold carvings in Australia but my favourite of all is a piece that went to the Falkland Islands. A lady came to me one day with a piece of drift wood which she had received from the Falklands. She asked me to carve Blossom Cottage into it, which I did. She was delighted and apparently it is hanging outside Blossom Cottage in the Falklands today, which is lovely," he said.

So, while Liam's decision to become a woodwork teacher may have been somewhat thrust upon him, he isn't the first, nor will he be the last generation of the Kennedy clan to take up the art.

"My dad was a carpenter as was my grandfather. My son Niall studied woodwork at Lurgan Technical College at the moment he is teaching it in Melbourne. He is more into making furniture than I would be but it is nice that the woodwork tradition is being carried on through the family," he said.