Mary May is a renown American woodcarver who lives and carves wood in Charleston, South Carolina. Mary is a European trained, in the UK no less, professional carver who focuses much of her work on classical motifs that ornament traditional American period homes and furniture.
She planned and offered a Ginling Gibbons Tour in 2020, but has seen it postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour is now scheduled for Sept 20-30, 2021, matching nicely with the tercentenary of Gibbons’ death.
Get the full brochure for all of the tour details. Registration form included.
Mary operates an online school, offering both online lessons and in-person classes.
A common item in many Gibbons carvings, and indeed of a huge percentage of all classical carvings is the Acanthus leaf. It is a centuries old symbol of life and vitality. Mary focused her interest, and her classical training on that leaf a few years ago and wrote the book: Carving the Acanthus Leaf. Whether you want to actually carve Acanthus leaves, or just want to see more of them in various styles (Italian renaissance, Scandinavian, Greek, French Rococo, Baroque) Mary has created the authoritative Acanthus book.
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