February 10, Virtual Meeting 7 PM
Friday, January 15, 2021 at 8:40AM Our next meeting with be virtual, held on Wednesday, February 10, 2021. Our featured speaker will be woodcarver Mary May. Just a reminder to our members, please mute yourself upon entering the meeting to eliminate extraneous noises and unmute only when speaking. We look forward to seeing everyone on February 10.
About Mary May
Acclaimed for her ability to incorporate intricate details (think scrolls, shells, fleurs-de-lis, swirling waves, quatrefoils and ball-and-claw feet) into traditional furnishings and architectural implements, May’s repertoire ranges from iconic Charleston rice beds to the historic mantels she restores and reproduces for 18th-century residences throughout the peninsula–in period-appropriate styles such as Federal and Rococo.
Born in the Midwest to a carpenter father, May caught the carving bug while studying fine art and ceramics in London, where she was routinely awed by the ornamentation of surrounding palaces, country houses and cathedrals. Back home in Minneapolis, she apprenticed three years under Greek-born master carver Konstantinos Papadakis, who encouraged her to train under one of his contemporaries in Athens before she furthered her studies at the City & Guilds of London Art School. May’s work, mostly in wood but occasionally in stone, enjoys high demand in Charleston’s ecclesiastical and residential spheres; two of her loftiest commissions to date include slate memorial stones for the Holy City’s famed French Huguenot Church and a chimneypiece she meticulously restored with contractor Richard “Moby” Marks for a circa-1764 home on Legare Street.