PROCESS

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.

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. Carving the slate more turned out to be fun--like making arrowheads, I assume. And it wasn't nearly as tricky as 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 merely modeled the "head" on this oddly shaped branch. But it never quite looked like a bird (the neck and "leg" were too squarish and thick, for one thing). I finally bit the bullet: I removed half the neck, replaced the "leg" w/ two more-traditional-looking metal ones, switched around the tail, and used a small left-over piece as a head feather. (And I also switched to a lighter, more angular base.) Besides that--it's exactly the same!

This earlier iteration of a "ball" had a single inlaid "dot" in it. Hmmm....the final version (right) ended up with a half-dozen "apostrophes" (or "comets," if you like). (The color is the same, a walnut stain; just the lighting is 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 cut the entire piece in half, removed the bottom half, and recarved the middle into a pot and stem. The "petals" are unchanged--but now look quite different. (Not wanting to waste a good piece of solid maple, I've kept the bottom half, which may some day become the base of another piece, or a faux can--or get tossed.)