Joining a new class is always a little scary especially if you're using a new medium and learning new skills. I'd not done any carving in either wood or stone before, but the idea of carving a bit of alabaster appealed - but then panic sets in - what to carve? Maybe a face? So armed with some family photos for reference, I started with bit of clay, playing around with the idea of making a maquette to work from. But faces are hard! The face didn't work out and gradually, with the help of a bit of plasticine, the idea of a pod emerged instead.
I had some lovely black and variegated Cornish stones which reminded me of seeds, so the idea developed of carving a pod-like shape that they would fit into, like conkers fit into their seed pod. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the plasticine pod, which subsequently had another, different incarnation, so no record survives, but the alabaster pod which eventually emerged is reasonably close to the original idea, though much more detail was added as the carving progressed and my skills improved.
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There were all these new tools to get used to: carvers chops to hold the alabaster firmly, rasps to roughly shape it, chisels and gouges for more definition and riflers for the fine detail.
 The first stage |  A little more definition (Photo from Paul's blog) |  Top view, final stage with texture added and after polishing |
 Back view, final stage with texture and after polishing |  Front view, final stage showing carved recesses for 'seeds' and after polishing |  Finished pod with black pebble 'seeds' in place. |
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