2 July 2019
Praise from Canada for a skilled and talented Solomon Islands craftsman
My website www.solomonislandsinfocus.com illustrates the many types of beautiful wood carvings made by talented Solomon Islands craftsmen and it was for that reason that I believe I was contacted in early February 2018 by a Catholic Church in Canada where the priest asked whether I could locate anyone in the Solomon Islands willing to carve a nativity set for display at the church.
It seems the church has a tradition of putting on display each Christmas carved nativity sets obtained from wood carvers around the world.
Offering to try and help, I was sent a photo of the kind of nativity set the church was looking for and featuring Joseph, Mary and the baby Christ lying in a crib.
The editors of local papers kindly circulated the photo and my article in which I had asked for a local craftsman to help carve the nativity set being sought.
Ralph Ako of Marova Lagoon offered to do the work and I have just received a letter from Msgr Greg in Canada who had this to say of Jack’s work.
“I just want to let you know the nativity set arrived today, It is really magnificent. Its size and beauty is more than I expected. It will be part of our display at Christmas, when thousands of people will see it.”
Well done, Jack! Thank you for doing the work and I am pleased your craftsmanship earned the praise deserved.
I await Msgr Greg sending me an illustration of Ralph’s carving and when I received it from Canada I will write with more details.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
