Looking for Art

Oak Firewood Saved from the Fire Pit

I see art everywhere I go, but especially in nature.  It creeps into my subconscious when I am least expecting it.  I see something and I know that it should be art.  I don't always know how to accomplish that goal, but if I wait, look at it over a period of time, the art comes into my head.  The two pieces of firewood in this photo are an example of that.  One day last spring my neighbor was cleaning up his yard and tossing branches into a fire pit.  I walked over to say hello, and yes, to see what he was getting rid of.  I spotted these two pieces of oak firewood on the pile.  They still had bark on them at that time.  I knew they would be art.  I dropped them on the floor of my shop where they sat for a year.  My neighbors moved to Florida and the wood was forgotten.  Last week I uncovered them in a rare clean-up attempt, and I knew what to do.  I removed the bark and carved the surface smooth before sanding and finishing them.  Then I took some maple flooring scraps and cut and carved until I had a backdrop for the salvaged firewood.  The result was nicer that I had expected.  I did not have a plan or a pattern when I began, it just evolved.  I do not come up with the ideas for my art, the ideas find me.

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"Adrift" Oak Firewood and Maple Flooring Scraps April, 2015; Nancy A French

"Waiting" Oak Firewood and Maple Flooring Scrap April, 2015; Nancy A French