Of Wood and Whales
The sperm whale shown here, exhibits one of the foremost reasons I have worked in wood all these many years. It’s all about discovering the rich textures and subtle color changes that are held therein. As a medium for artistic expression I have always found it to be unsurpassed. When I look at wood I feel it’s warmth, it’s mystery, and its sensual seductive allure. These feelings it evokes within me, in turn, always influence what I do with it. Not just in the determination of the nature of subject matter, but also throughout the continuing process of removing wood in developing the substance of my vision. The visual feedback I get from revealing the grain, to the more objectionable defects such as knots, all lend influence to determining the end result of my labor.
Minimize to Maximize
Since wood of great figure is making its own statement, and a very beautiful one at that, it behooves me to allow for it to do that. So I work to develop structure that will allow it’s contribution, to my own statement. This means that I must make allowances in the design in to utilize these endowments in my work. Balance is a key factor in this achievement. So subject selection is tantamount. It is incumbent upon me to select a subject that will allow the figure of the wood to enhance the subject as much as the subject might do to enhance what the wood has to show. The interplay between these two objectives is why in this particular piece, I chose to represent a whale. The whale only needs minor forming to suggest the specie, while providing broad areas for the grain and figure in the wood to show their full brilliance.
This piece is made from what is called spalted wormy hard maple (sugar maple). It is available for sale now at my ETSY shop at this link.
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