Candle holders

A bloganonymous church warden I know asked me if I could make a couple of candle holders for some tall, oil-filled candles for two churches' altars. He had in mind two wooden squares, each with a precise hole drilled to take the candle. Maybe, he thought, a cross could be carved on the front face of each block.

This felt like a very minimalist approach, and beside being aesthetically lacking, it looked technically tricky, especially as cost meant that softwood, not hardwood, was the material of choice.

After a bit of trial and error, I came up with a cruciform design that needed no carving, but conveyed some sense of the ecclesiastical context.

You're right - that baking powder tub isn't tall, and it isn't a candle. But it was just the right diameter to work around, and when filled with sand it gave at least a sense of weight. The holder doesn't look right: it felt a bit brutal.

The things were a bit too chunky, and sloping them down from the centre was an obvious refinement.

Stained and varnished, the finished holders were well received and are working well so far. I am hoping that the changing temperature in the churches will not upset the wood, but only time will tell.

Envoi

Churches are organisations and have committees. Nobody makes independent decisions. I was amused to find that an earnest debate had taken place about whether the holders would be acceptable, having been made by a non-believer. I would have loved to take part in this, and wonder whether there was a view that churches were constructed only by masons, glaziers, roofers, carvers and lead workers of unimpeachable faith.

Somehow I think their joyous craftsmanship was worship enough.