SPECTRE

This sculpture is one that I knew I had to create before I started it. I kept having recurring shadows fly over me in my dreams but never being able to make out what kind of bird it was. The summer of 2015 brought three Ravens to our small town on the prairies and I would see these birds often, with one frequenting my feeders on a daily basis. I knew then I would carve this bird, as it is one my spirit totems.

This sculpture took an inordinately long time for me to finish. I thought with the simple design and smooth lines it would be easy and fast. Not the case, the bird was slow to reveal itself to me. Like my dreams it was always a shadow in the chlorite. Small glimpses were all that I would ever have of the bird. With patience Spectre slowly emerged from the stone. This is a two piece sculpture as it sits on a piece of Yellow Cedar sourced from the Canadian west coast.

I used metal files and rasps, as well as 40 grit sand paper on various sanding blocks. The sculpture was then hand- rubbed to its desired gloss. No sealers or waxes were used to polish the stone. Some areas of the sculpture were left in rough stone; this is a trademark of the sculptor. Leaving these rough areas keeps the work connected to its original form.