August Carapace
A large seashell sculpture made with poplar wood.
August Carapace
I chose to begin with seashells because of their structure and form. Although simple, a spiral creates a complex group of shapes and planes. There is elegance in a seashell that I hope to capture again and again in my work. To achieve one large block of wood, I stacked ¾” poplar boards on top of each other. By using screws initially, I was able to dismantle the pieces at any point to gain access to tricky spots. When it was ready, I glued the pieces together before doing the finish work. For the finish, I sanded with finer and finer grits of sandpaper until I achieved an almost glossy surface with the wood alone. Then I applied polyurethane with a rag, rubbing it into the grain. I repeated this process about 10 times, each time applying as thin a coat as I could until I had a beautiful deep finish.
11" W x 11" D x 25" H
Poplar.
2012.