A section of the texture I’ve been carving into my crane sculpture. I’ve learned a lot from studying sand patterns at the beach over the past few months. I’m always astounded at how such beautiful formations result from the erosive interactions of just a handful of elements- the density of different sands, slope of the […]
Category Archives: tsuru
Tsuru Progress
I still refer to my original model of Tsuru as the full scale version nears completion. (photo by John Whalen) I’ve been shaping the final contours of my wooden crane sculpture for our Tsuru project in Denver. It’s been an arduous but satisfying exercise carving a form in wood at this scale, mostly because the […]
Tsuru Update: Carving the Crane
My 9′ wooden crane sculpture shapes up in the studio. One of the reasons I opted to carve the giant crane for our Tsuru Project in wood is that I get truer contours when shaping grain; there’s a dialogue between the material and the form and the shape just emerges as I slowly shave away […]
Flotsam of the Day
short-tailed albatross skull, found at Doran Beach One of the delights of daily beach-combing is how the tides always seem to churn up something new to suit the mood, especially after a storm surge. The other day I discovered the decomposing carcass of a large sea bird I did not recognize. I removed the skull […]
Tsuru Update: Sculpting the Basswood Crane
The crane, roughed-out in layers of basswood, almost ready for shaping I’ve been laminating layers of basswood to shape into a large crane sculpture, to be cast in bronze as the feature of our Tsuru Project in Denver. With a specific gravity of 0.32 and non-directional, knot-free grain, the wood is lightweight, stable, and carves […]
Tsuru Update
the great white egret flock in the marshes around Bodega Harbor as they migrate south The Dungeness crab season officially opened in Bodega Bay over the past weekend and the beaches have been teeming with life just after dawn- fishing boats on the bay, surfers on the south swell, pelicans skimming cresting waves, geese wedging […]
Tsuru
Model of Tsuru, commissioned for the new Ralph M Carr Judicial Center in Denver We’re celebrating at the wowhaus studio after winning the public art commission for the courtyard of the new Ralph M Carr Colorado Judicial Center in Denver. We worked especially hard for this one, and the concept and presentation evolved collaboratively through […]