This idea for this piece came from seeing a gull leaving an old stone tower on Exmoor. The type of timber used for the bird has been long forgotten – it was probably Oak as that is the timber I was very much into at that time – if a carving has thin or small sections I prefer Oak to give the piece strength. The angled strips are cut from Cornish Slate, laminated with Mahogany, mainly because at the time I was quite trusting the stability of the slate which had a habit of flaking after I’d maybe overworked it. The finish possible on this material is beautiful and when the piece was displayed at exhibitions it was accompanied by a notice asking people to touch it. The fixings for the slate panels and uprights are Allen headed stainless bolts secured into threaded inserts into a heavy piece of u/i driftwood. The bird is finished in sprayed white enamel.View from above.
