A Sculpture

Earlier this year at an art show, we were pleased to meet a couple that has decorated their entire home with art from local artists. The result has been a beautiful assortment of paintings in every room; a tribute to the creativity that can be found here in Rome, GA. One wall remained blank and they had a vision of hanging a large carving of a snail shell in the void. Try as they might, they had been unable to find just the right piece. They were thrilled to find that Gorg would be able to create something for them. We were honored to have a piece of Gorg's work added to their collection. After much deliberation and a merry chase to find just the right wood; spalded, quarter-sawn Sycamore (American Lacewood), their dream began to come to life. 

Just the beginning

After being roughed out

With a slight adjustment to the center spiral

 

Let the carving begin!

 

Ready for the finish

In order to bring out the detail of the carving and the beauty of the wood, Gorg used a French polish technique which involves many layers of finish, wax, and buffing. The first step was to bring out the grain with Teak Oil.

All of the black is due to the spalding

After allowing the wood to absorb the oil, it was time to begin the polish technique with the first coat of shellac.

This was followed by waxing and buffing. Then the entire processes was repeated several times. A final heavy buffing had the wood glowing and the quarter-sawn flecks appearing to be three dimensional. The pictures don't do it justice. Everyone, say hello to Gary...