wood isn't the easiest first material to try but I find it better than clay. My first attempt in wood was a butterfly in cedar. Cedar was my best choice because of the high contrast grain coloring. A local lumberyard carried hardwoods, sugar pine & cedar for art purposes so I bought two boards from the same cedar tree and had matching wings.
Google had nothing similar in cedar but this is a good example of what I mean.
Horses, otters, herons and eagles emerge from stumps of wood under the power of J. Chester Armstrong's chainsaw. This Sisters artist uses local wood such as juniper, and his work appears in the collections of Michael Jackson, Olivia Newton John and Burt Reynolds.
Quote:
Chester Armstrong - Sisters, OR
Unlike other artists who use the chain saw merely to shape a beginning image, this roaring monster is an instrument vital to Chester Armstrons's art. The tool becomes an extension of his hand, digging, chiseling, cutting deep into the wood pulling images out like a sorcerer waving a magic wand. Once the creative process has begun, the artist becomes totally immersed in his work moving around the log in a unique rhythm, the raucous song of the saw providing the melody which guides Armstrong in choreographing the steps as he literally dances with the wood.
Unlike other artists who use the chain saw merely to shape a beginning image, this roaring monster is an instrument vital to Chester Armstrons's art. The tool becomes an extension of his hand, digging, chiseling, cutting deep into the wood pulling images out like a sorcerer waving a magic wand. Once the creative process has begun, the artist becomes totally immersed in his work moving around the log in a unique rhythm, the raucous song of the saw providing the melody which guides Armstrong in choreographing the steps as he literally dances with the wood. Because he loves to produce large images, the artist often begins with a 16 saw. There is a certain element of excitement and danger in using the large saw which revs up my creative juices, he explains. It is a challenge to me to use such a rough tool to refine the wood into intricate and detailed images. Because I am absolutely in love with line the chain saw is the perfect tool for me. The constant, steady movement as it cuts automatically creates flowing lines as opposed to chisels which make chips and chunks. Armstrong works in walnut, a wood whose smell he says reminds him of a favorite subject, horses. Mass is also an important feature of his work so he frequently sculpts multiple images. Explaining how these come about, Armstrong notes, Since wood is organic and natural things change as I go; nothing is locked in. I add lib as I cut making a myriad of spontaneous decisions. If I come to a branch, that becomes a rearing horse as opposed to one running with the herd. There is a spirit within the wood, and as I work that creative life force is flowing into me and in turn I put that energy back into my sculpture. Life is one continuous circle of forces which guide and rejuvenate you if you are open to them.
Linear Mode
