My first carving- a natural form vase/sculpture.

[Oiliver]

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Since I cannot do any turning at the moment, I decided to try my hand at carving for the first time. I had a lovely gnarly branch of Puriri (sometimes called New Zealand Ironwood) which I didn't have any plans for, so I decided to have a go at that.

So I whittled her down with my old Tremontina Sports knife (of all things!) to expose the beautiful twisting grain. I carved down the bits I didn't like, and accented a few bits that I did, but more or less just let it stay how it wanted to be. I hand sanded the outside and as much of the inside as I could reach, then oiled it up with mineral oil. The mineral oil took it from a grey-green-brown colour, to a rich, dark brown with orangey flares in; stunning. I then drilled down the natural hollow a bit further, to make it more vase-y.

To present the piece, I stripped down a few pieces of dried flax, and cut some lengths of small-gauge wire. I arranged them in the 'vase' part, held in place with just a little glob of hot glue (they would have stayed without, but I wanted them to have a particular arrangement). I then collected some little river rocks; I tried to chose some orange tinted ones and some darker ones. I put the piece in a triangular glass vase, and filled it with the rocks- the oranger ones at the bottom, building up to the dark black-blue ones. I did this to try reflect the flaring colours of the wood.

All in all I reckon it was not a bad first attempt! Criticisms, suggestions and comments are always welcome (And sorry about the photos!)

[artme]

I like it,! Shows good imagination!