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Stick Dancer with wooden box

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Description

This Dancer is carved from a branch of a sweet birch tree. She stands about 15" tall. Behind her is a new box, fresh off the bench, made up of some very colorful box elder wood.

As ridiculous as it sounds, a chainsaw  starts it off.. the branch is found and trimmed off, then it is clamped in a large vise and that same saw, a husky 395 with a 24" bar roughs the arm from the head and the lower foot from the thicker branch. A 4" grinder is then used to refine that. That takes all of five minutes, then she is simply carved with a utility knife and palm chisels. A small saw is used in addition to relieve any cut that may lead to a split. she is worked over to get a reasonable knife texture and then finished in Polyurethane. In this case I left bark on one arm that has a wild shape yet is natural enough to create the illusion. I told myself I was "paying homage to the original branch." Her hands and fingers are lightly indicated, her feet are kept generalized and one can think of her as nude or in tights. A small 2 x 3 inch base , not shown, was added to increase stability. Overall she was a nine hour project, commissioned as a gift.

 The box behind is a stacking double tray box with a loose tip up lid.
 Over and over I hear from 'pro woodsmen' that the trees in the Thompson woods >where my woodlot is located< are of little value. It is true that most of the hardwood has insect damage.. but if you take the commercial logging aspect out of the equation and cut what you have what you find is that these woods are full of the most colorful and nicely figured wood around. I've cut tiger maple, birdseye maple, curly oaks, flame birches.. and this box elder wood for example was insect damaged storm fall slated to be burned. The colors you see are a direct result of the aforementioned 'insect damage'. I'll take the junky wood any day! It isn't all figured.. the 'plain ole' woods like red and white oak, birch beech maple, ash hickory, pine, hemlock have all been cut and used to good effect to make truly premium materials. Even the smallest ugliest woodlot will yield true jems to those who search for them.
 This particular box made use of a section of slab as a lid. It is chainsaw cut to about the right size.. then flattened on one side. The live edge of the wood is retained and creates an almost landscape effect. To open this box top one presses on the front or back edge and the lid tips up. It comes to rest standing in a small slots in the sides. the top tray is lifted off to access the bottom.
 This box is one made for inventory and will end up on etsy.
Image size
1408x2000px 661.66 KB
Date Taken
Dec 18, 2016, 11:43:55 AM
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Comments4
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nightserpent's avatar
I like how you've left the remaining bit of bark.   It helps give context and reminds us where this came from, I think it also helps to convey how clever these are.