I was asked to participate in a group artshow in March 2021 called ‘The Artists Voice’ with Stan Oglov (salvaged metal art with magnets), Nancy Silo (ceramics), and Kathleen Theriault (paintings) for the Gallery at Ptarmigan Arts. I made a few new pieces for this show which was really inspiring.
‘Two Trees’ is the fourth in my series of abstract tree sculptures. The base is a piece from the rootball of a red cedar found on the beach. The tree tops are carved from blocks of cedar that has been naturally dyed black (I found the wood on the beach this way, most likely they were in contact with metal for a long period of time?). I like to leave some of the silver weathered wood exposed to contrast the parts I sand smooth, which returns the natural colours of the wood. I did not want to be too realistic with my trees, but instead I was interested in an abstract fantasy feel (I am inspired by the paintings of Emily Carr) with the tree tops. The tops are attached to the base with floating dowel tenons. The sculpture is finished with natural oil to bring out the colours.
I found this nice piece of cedar on the beach which had two long spires and was wide at the bottom, perfect for the back of a funky chair. Years ago I made a large chair (the Fairy Kings Throne) with a similar piece of wood that had 3 spires, so this new piece of furniture became “Petit Trone” (the Little Throne). I decided to leave the weathered and silver wood exposed on the entire backside of the chair in contrast to the rest of the lovely soft and smooth sanded wood. It is a simple chair with no armrests but still very comfortable! Finished with OSMO PolyX oil.
I also decided to do a couple more sculptures in my beachfire series (III & IV) since I had salvaged a couple of perfect pieces for this style. These sculptures rely heavily on natures design as I work with the wood around knots and natural curves to get the abstract feeling of driftwood on fire. These are both mounted on locally sourced sandstone bases and finished with natural oil.
It was a great art show, and I sold half of the pieces I put in so I was very happy… I look forward to having more time to focus on sculptures in the near future!
