Scavenger

Mornings and evenings are chilly. Autumn is here.We need fuel for the firebox.  I walked up and down the north west sloping woodland hunting for dead wood to cut and carry down. The tree tops roared quietly like distant surf at low tide, and over and far above geese honked. A luminous, numinous skyscape. Too cold now for the swallows.
I harvested from a long dead, stretched out birch storm victim. I then went home for a camera:

             

Assemblage

These cracks are bothering me. The limitations of this single woodblock bother me too ! However as a technical exercise the process is interesting and challenging. And, since experiencing a lot of satisfaction and encouragement in constructing yesterday`s sculpture/bench, I`m reminded of the liberating potential in an assemblage approach: Where can I remove bulk (and sheer weight) from the birch legs ? where and what further elements can be added ? (  having a  functional dimension ticks another of my internal boxes.)
This makes me view the above piece as possible donor-parts-potential if either the grain-splits or the subject matter defeat me in the end...

In doing, clarity will come

I`m really pleased to have incorporated the hard-won birch trunk with the ruminating and handless elm horseman figure (who, in setting forth, achieves some level of insight on his travels ). There`s a bigger piece in this but in the meantime I like that there is a birch bench in the hallway upon which laces can be tied, velcro strapped.

 I am pleased that serendipidy brought these two wooden elements together. I`m also aware that my holiday days will end tomorrow and with them, some of the capacity to fashion, dwell on and play with these objects and symbols.

 

Running Horse

The ears went; lobbed off more or less accidently but with an awareness that there was a growing touch of rat or pig about them. This irrevocable earlessness left me scunnered, so I left the woodblock and went away to pick up my daughter at the yard where I could stare at Fudge and Frankie - ruminate on how their ears met their heads, the sheer length and flexibility of them.   Hacking away again, there  now developed a similarity to Janosch`s Hase mit die schnellen schuen, but I think the wooden horse`s ears, pinned back in its running and leaping, protectively overlaying the girl`s head, will "work". I don`t mind if it doesn`t resemble a horse too much (and no doubt ears pinned back like this on a real beast signify extreme distress.....) The girl will be facing roughly forwards; straining  towards the action - hands not grasping the neck, but held outstretched on either side, giving her horse its freedom.