A Windhorse Project
Continued from page 2
And so we continue. The next part is a bit tedious so I will apologize in advance!
There is much left to be done with the final modelling and smoothing. But it's also time to do a few repairs. A log of this size frequently rots in the center; this one came from a tree that was about to crash on to the power lines along the roadside. A log also almost always cracks outward from the center. The cracking is caused by the fact that the wood shrinks more rapidly around the rings than it does perpendicular to them and so pulls itself apart. ( There, a quick summary of wood drying mechanics which I thought you might find interesting!). Sculptors in wood traditionally hollow out the center of wooden sculptures to relieve the pressure and prevent the cracking ; in this case a lot of it was prevented by the center rotting out. As it turns out, a mouse had been living there some time ago. He appears to have been quite comfortable really!
I won't worry about hollowing the log out too much but will begin clearing things up a bit! Actually now would be a good time to clean up generally!
There are quite a lot of shavings really as you can see when my foot is placed by the pile in the picture for scale!
Also I need to make space for the loom we are going to set up! ( It will be portable of course! The sheepish look on my face and the close degree to which this photograph has been cropped around me might suggest that I am a bit behind on tidying up after preparing for winter or even preparing for spring last year! Please be patient with me...)
Dec 27, 2002
I've just read a poem which is very inspiring. Please read of Tibetans and Nature along with me! I've done about as much tidying as I can stand at the moment so it's time to continue the fine modelling. For me, the important thing is to use the tool cuts to illustrate the flow, motion and structure rather than create a lot of needless texture. To accomplish this, each cut must be a smooth curve despite problems the wood's grain poses . The delicate work is coming along rather well!
And here is a studio with a bit more space and a great drafting board table for the design of the prayer flags (it's portable yet solid, and the light actually works too)!
