tributesinwood

George Proudfeather is Complete

This has been a day for wrapping up projects, I guess.  George has been awaiting completion of his peace-pipe and I just haven’t been able to get back to him as I wanted to add a few feathers to adorn the pipe.

I wrapped a bit of cord around the bowl of the pipe and used the same cord to simulate the cord that would attach a few decorative eagle feathers to the pipe.  All in all, I like the way that it turned out.

I’m planning to display George Proudfeather at the Pickering and Ottawa carving shows coming up later this fall period.

Painting Completed

The painting of George Proudfeather is completed and I’m just in the process of creating a nice base for him to sit upon.  I’m so happy with the way that the bead-work and bear claws turned out.

I ended up laying the bear claws on the bear fur collar and “connecting” them with what I imagine are glass beads that George and his clan received in a fur trade.  George seems to be pretty happy with the outcome of that trade.

I used a bit of epoxy on all of the beads to brighten them up to be glass-like.  They really stand out from the other earth tones that I used in the overall piece.

I should also mention the wrapped pony-tails.  I was originally going to do these as deerskin but on second thought felt that the jacket had enough of that material in the overall carving.  So I took an aggressive carbide tool bit and lightly buffed the wrap just enough to lift the wood and make it “furry.”  I dabbed some various browns and a bit of autumn orange to give it a hint of perhaps a fox fur.  I think that it turned our pretty reasonably.

A mahogany base ( from wood from an old soccer trophy of mine ) has been fashioned and is just in the staining/finishing stages.  I’ll get that completed early this week and then I’ll be on to my next project.

Some Bead-Work

I did a bit of painting on the bead-work yesterday and am pleased with how it’s looking so far.  My daughter, Emily, also gave me what looks to be a great book yesterday, called Orenda, that so far recounts some of the native Canadian history of the Hurons and Iroquois.  The 1600’s sounded like a tough life for our native people and am looking forward to reading more this week.  I think George Proudfeather is going to be a gentler version of the life that I’m reading about.

Painting George Proud Feather

George is starting to get some colour on his deerskin and bearskin outfit.  I haven’t completed the beadwork painting just yet as I wanted to “weather” the jacket with some dry-brushing but keep the beadwork colours bright.  We’ll see how this works out later.

I like the way that his head ended up tilted back and his chest puffed out a bit…Proud Feather for sure.

That’s the start to a mahogany base, as well.  I decided to keep it simple and I expect that I’ll stain it dark with a urethane coating.

George Proud Feather gets a head…

I’ve detailed in George’s head and added a couple of deerskin wrapped braids.  Still some touch up work to do before I start adding the feather details.

You might notice that the head is tilted back a bit, which I think gives him a look of pride.  When I decide on how I mount him on the post and base, I’m going to want to maintain this posture.

I’m enjoying this carving in the evenings and I’m pretty happy with the way that it’s coming along.

George Proud Feather

George Proud Feather is starting to take shape.  The torso of the bust will be deerskin with bead work and you can see the start of the beadwork on the front of the jacket, here.

I also added in the bear collar, a neckerchief and a medallion that will have three feathers draped from it.

Not sure what emblem will be on the medallion…I’ll have to think about that.  Right now I can picture a native Canadian emblem of some fashion.

Below, is the start to the head.  The plan is to have braided hair wrapped in deerskin decorated with more beadwork.  I’m looking forward to that carving.