Enchanted Woods

I've been featured in a TREASURY on Etsy!!! Woot. Check out the Enchanted Woods treasury here:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=90490

My Santa Wood Spirit driftwood carving is among the twelve selected.



Loads of talented Etsians in there, I'm quite honored to be in such company. Treasuries are a venue for Etsy members to select several products within a certain theme, out of the hundreds of thousands of products on Etsy, that they really love and show them off to everyone.

The treasury was created by Snippetfairy, who has some really cool stuff in her shop,
like this little felted monster: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29915395

Cailleach na Sióg

That's the title of my new Burl carving. "Cailleach na Siog" means "Old woman of the fairy mounds". A Banshee(bean si). Ancient and wise, foreseers of, among other things, death. Superstitious people in Ireland would dread the mourning wail of the Bean Si, for it foretold the death of someone nearby. This one's not wailing though, so don't worry. :D The Bean Si wail only happened to be one of the more popularized myths surrounding the Si, or 'fairies'. Their lore spans the realms of emotions and intuitions.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33086639

Re-Supply day

Spent the majority of the day today down on the gravel bars of the Matanuska river looking for burls and interesting driftwood to carve. Most of my driftwood over the years has come from the sea. The Bering Sea and the Sea of Cortez/Gulfo de California, specifically. Turns out powerful glacial rivers have a very similar effect on wood to oceans. Main difference is that salt has been exchanged for silt.

Most of what I found was rotted out too much to make it worth carving. There weren't any big, solid burls like I was hoping either. But there were alot of great root burl shapes and assorted other interesting pieces of wood that should give me some interesting 'canvases' to work on.

The views weren't bad...


Beaver carving:


My tool for the day with the first piece of root burl I cut.


The first load.


The final cut.


Not a bad 'day at the office', eh?

Hurl, step by step

Here's a quick trip through the creation of a carving.

For this piece, we're starting with a piece of black spruce burl that i collected on the shore of the Bering Sea this summer. Once I actually decided to carve it, the first step was to trim off the two protruding branch ends with a hand saw. Then it was hand shaved with rasps into a workable shape, removing nearly all of the weathered, grey exterior.



After that, I started cutting into it with my gouges in what felt like the right place to start. I almost never plan out my carvings, I just start cutting into the wood and try to help whatever wants to emerge do so. Before long, I had the basic shape of some kind of face.



Then it was a matter of refining and adding a little detail. This burl has grain running in 15 different directions, sometimes in the same place...



Refine further, file, sand; repeat.



Add Danish Oil, let it soak in.



Last but not least, put it out there for everyone to see and hope they like it.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32796599

I've gotten some feedback that it's difficult to make out the shape in the photos on Etsy, can anyone back that up or add any input? please?

Wick

click on image for more and larger photos. you will be taken to my flickr account.


Bering Sea driftwood root, possibly black spruce. Aside from the hole for the twine, from the face up was entirely formed and shaped by earth, wind and water. Otherwise entirely hand carved, hand sanded and finished with Danish Oil. Hangs via hemp twine. For decorative purposes only.

dimensions:
H = @ 9 1/4" high
T = @ 1 1/2" thick

SOLD!! at the Make It Alaskan Festival

email for more info or to purchase: an.rothar.donn@gmail.com

Wood Spirit/Santa

click on image for a larger photo. you will be taken to my flickr account.

Bering Sea driftwood, unknown type. Freestanding. Entirely hand carved, hand sanded and finished with 2 coats of polycrylic.

dimensions:
H = @ 9 1/2" high
W = @ 2" wide (base)
T = @ 3" thick (overall)

can be seen/purchased at the Make It Alaskan Festival this Fri/Sat/Sun. see link

email for more info or to purchase: an.rothar.donn@gmail.com

Santa

click on image for a larger photo. you will be taken to my flickr account.

Bering Sea driftwood, unknown type. Freestanding. Entirely hand carved, hand sanded and finished with Danish Oil.

dimensions:
H = @ 14 3/4" high
W = @ 1 3/4" wide (base)
T = @ 2 1/4" thick (base)

can be seen/purchased at the Make It Alaskan Festival this Fri/Sat/Sun. see link

email for more info or to purchase: an.rothar.donn@gmail.com

Santa

click on image for a larger photo. you will be taken to my flickr account.

Bering Sea driftwood, possibly black spruce. Freestanding. Entirely hand carved, hand sanded and finished with Danish Oil.

dimensions:
H = @ 9 1/2" high
W = @ 4 1/4" wide (base)
T = @ 2 1/2" thick (base)

available at the http://seangrady.etsy.com

email for more info or to purchase: an.rothar.donn@gmail.com