In Full Sail Sculpture

This sculpture is hand carved from a single piece of sweet chestnut burl (burr) wood. I love to sail (when I get the chance) and this piece is my latest endeavour in a long running quest to capture in wood, some of the beautiful and elegant shapes created by sails. The piece of timber from which it is carved is very special. I collected this piece of sweet chestnut burr quite a few years ago from a tree surgeon in Norfolk, UK. I knew as soon as I saw the felled log that it was a rather special piece of wood and that I would only use it on sculpture that would show off its characteristics to its absolute best. I remember well the struggle I had to manhandle the 4 ft length of trunk into my 4×4 even though I had chain sawed its 4 ft diameter into quarters. One of these quarters I reserved for the carving of “Octopus 2“ (see my Artworks). This sculpture, “In Full Sail”, was carved from part of that same section. I love the swirling grain within this piece as well as the patches of colour that naturally occur within the wood. These features are shown off to their best with the clean, flowing lines of my sail themed, marine sculptures.