This Christmas, Drysdale Uniting Church is proudly displaying a new Nativity at the front of the church after deciding their old one needed updating.
Clifton Springs Men’s Shed was asked to assist and there was only one man for the job – Barrie Foreman.
His strong passion for woodwork and his attention to detail, made him the perfect candidate.
Barrie enthusiastically took on the job and dismantled the existing Nativity. He was able to use the existing frame but decided to make it look more like a stable. He then went in search of the perfect scene to convey the Christmas message to the community. The inspiration was found on a Christmas card.
To transfer the image to the correct scale, Barrie drew a grid to the size of the box and then drew a grid over a photocopy of the image, allowing Barrie to freehand draw the images to scale.
Barrie then transferred the images to timber and carefully cut out each piece, tidied the edges and applied the undercoat. He hand-painted each character and animal with precision, even enlisting his granddaughters to assist with some of the finer details of the painting and adding the gold leaf.
The scene was assembled, some solar lights were added to illuminate it, and a PVC screen was attached to the front to keep the scene safe, so that it can be proudly displayed for many more Christmases to come.
Barrie was extremely thankful for and enjoyed working on this very exciting project for Clifton Springs Men’s Shed and hopes the community will enjoy the finished Nativity just as much.
