PROCESS
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At first, I stacked the three "fungi" shelves (on the left). It looked all right...but too static (and the shelves were impractically tilted). Some weeks later, the solution came: spiral them around the "trunk." (The three shelves are exactly the same, while the trunk was replaced--and is much more lively.) This reworking took just a few hours--often a sign that it's going in the right direction. |
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| To make a fish-like composition, I just trimmed and rounded this wedge of slate, and mounted it on a block of sandstone. Later, though, I added the three fins and tail--it was fun, like making arrowheads, I assume. What's more, it was much more successful than the entire elephant I first tried carving out of slate. Lesson: Start modestly. |
| This is the original wedge of maple (left). Like the slate fish, it didn't require major reshaping, besides cutting off the one end to make a base. But all edges had to be smoothed and the beak-like top was defined more. As it turned out, the piece wasn't stable enough, though, so I attached a shaped marble base--which also added another element. |
| For an earlier exhibit, I just modeled the "head" on this oddly shaped branch. It never looked like a bird (the neck and "leg" were too squarish and thick, for one thing). So I bit the bullet and removed half the neck, replaced the leg w/ two traditional-looking metal ones, switched around the tail, and made a head feather out of a small leftover piece. And I switched to a lighter, more angular base. Besides that, it's exactly the same! |
| This earlier version of a ball had a single inlaid dot. Okay....the final version ended up with a half-dozen "apostrophes" or "comets". (The color is exactly the same, a walnut stain; the lighting was different.) |
| I first carved this piece of a maple log into a chunky, semi-abstract flower in a holder. Later, after taking a deep breath, I sliced it in half, removed the bottom, and recarved the mid-section into a pot and stem. The petals are unchanged--but look quite different. |
