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By the Carver Dan Ralph Miller
August 2004
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There was some discussion, when I agreed to do the carving, as to what bird should be depicted. When all Dorothy's children had arrived, Dorene, Gerald, Ralph and Bruce, they all directed it should be a Great Horned Owl. The piece took some 50 hours to create on account of my patient character and the rock hardness of the oak wood, and I worked through the '04 Reunion to complete it before I had to leave. It is nearly the first thing you see when you drive up to the cottage, so I had the honour of greeting almost every guest as they arrived the day of the big feast. I offer it in honour of our shared ancestors as a gift to the living members of our beloved family, to whom I owe my life. I am more than happy to contribute my sweat and blood, and above all my creativity, into a lasting piece of art that may well survive me, that all the members of my tribe may enjoy. I started with an oak stump nearly twelve feet tall which had been felled some years before, but the stump left intact with the intention of one day having a carving done. Happily, they waited 'till I returned to the cottage after a twenty year absence. Click on any of the images below to see them at a larger scale. |
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Here Justin and Sam assist me in removing the last of the bark and some slight rot on the outside. |
After drawing the front and side profiles of the owl on two sides of the log with a magic marker, I began to make my shaping cuts with a small electric chainsaw. |
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At various points I had to redraw the owl's face and outlines as I continued to remove more and more wood. |
The trick is to always leave yourself too much wood on the log. Wood is always easier to take away than it is to put back on. |
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At this point, I am pretty well finished using the chainsaw, happy enough with the general shape of the sculpture. |
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I switched to a disk-grinder to smooth out the piece. The grain of the oak really began to show through. |
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No longer able to ignore the owl's face, I began using the chisel to work out the details. I actually prefer the hand-tools, although they are slower, it is actually quite relaxing compared to the blare of power-tools. |
And then it was simply a matter of using the chisel to give the bird some feathers. |
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My brother Sam helped sand down the piece both by hand and with a block sander, before coating the piece in linseed oil. |
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Now it will ever face to the west, where I dwell, and I will remember. |