Recent Pieces and Stories

 "Last First" is the first piece in my moon series. I'm planning on doing 6 more with some being used for wall art. I dedicated this piece to my dear friend who is the Executive Director of the Dreaming Zebra Foundation. It is a foundation that gives kids access to art supplies and musical instruments. I have had the pleasure of volunteering for this foundation and believe in it strongly. 

"Seal in Kelp" came from an experience I had on the side of a cliff overlooking a kelp bed in the San Juan Islands. I found the seal head, which was a piece of driftwood (I did not alter it at all) that had been burnt and had a knot for the eye perfectly located, and then decided I would capture (with creative license) the visit by the seal which was recorded by me in the picture below. I fashioned the kelp by carving them at the end for the bulb and then took a deer antler and gave them a sheen. I then took a blow torch and darkened the wood with it and followed that by giving it a second rubbing with the deer antler. I added wired ribbon for the flower part of the kelp. It is a wall sculpture. Please scroll to the bottom of this page to the last 4 pictures. This piece is dedicated to my friend Juan Christian who died in October, '09.

I made a cane for my friend, Tim Kelly, who had his hip replaced. I finished it on 9/9/09 and was able to give it to him on 9/11. It has a story that I will write here after I speak with him about it. He wasn't feeling too good when I saw him due to the fact that he was leaking spinal fluid after the operation. That would do it. It is made from cedar, deer leather, copper, bike tube, and has a crow's feather.

"The Cormorant" is my latest piece completed 5/09. It took about 2 years for me to prepare and make this piece. I experimented on other pieces to get the wings the way I wanted them, like making the angel wings for some of the smaller pieces. The body was provided by Ma Nature and I carved the wings out of a piece of driftwood cedar as well as the feet, which I had to do twice due to the first ones were not large enough. Each secondary feather was made individually. There are 21 on each wing with 7 tail feathers equalling 49 or 7X7. The sevens are my signature. I was going to use sea glass for the eyes and chose not to when I used the perfect carving tool and got the roundness and the size I wanted.  The dimensions are 23" tall, 30" wide, 14" deep. Enjoy! "The Cormorant" is dedicated to my friend Jeanne Charles who died May 9th, 2009. I know she will be with me and my muse. 

"Atypical" is in the Sculpture Park at Westcott Bay on San Juan Island by Roche Harbor. It will be placed in the woods and will be looking at all who walk the path. It has been treated with a tung oil to preserve it in the elements and will be secured with cement.

I made a bit of a departure from my usual style with this piece and used driftwood as dowels. I sketched out what I wanted and found that I desired the neck and rear hanch to be vertical lines and the middle part to be horizontal lines. The focus is on the legs and most definitely the head with it's great antlers. The more I sat with this piece the more I liked the design. Although linear, it has a gentle flow to it.

Its dimensions are: 8 feet high, 7 feet long, 1.5 feet wide.

"Drifting Forest" (Seen at the bottom of this page)