But that is exactly what happens when wood sculptor Jim Barnes from Gretton starts a piece of work. He said: "The wood tells me what to do. I never go out to find a piece of wood and already have an idea of what to sculpt. The wood inspires me."

Jim first started wood carving when he lived in Africa, when he used to help his late wife finish some of her pieces. He has been sculpting full time for five years, and has pieces on display in the Orange Street Gallery in Uppingham, as well as in his own gallery at home.

He said: "The one thing that is different about my gallery is that it has pieces of paper saying 'please touch' because that's a part of the work. The feel of it."

Among his collection of pieces there are many different types of wood, and, living on the edge of Rockingham Forest, Jim is surrounded by it all the time.

He said: "I have wood given to me by farmers. There's so much material out there. I have a piece that is a forest creature and it was excavated from the ground by Charlie Woolston, a farmer in Gretton. I don't know how old it is."

Despite being surrounded by many types of wood, Jim has a favourite, Olive wood which he brings over from Africa.

He said: "It's a hard wood and it has a beautiful grain. It also smells amazing when you are carving it.

"I am carving a bust at the moment but with wood you are limited with what you can do because of the material. It's not like clay where you can build and build."

Jim opened his studios last year and is looking forward to repeating the experience again this year. He said: "I'm looking forward to it. I had a lot of people come down last year. I was the only person in the village last time and it's great that there are more people doing it this year."

Jim's studio will be open on June 28 and 29 and July 12 and 13 and
he is based at 2 Harringworth Road, Gretton.