Skull walking stick

Shortly before my father passed away in 2008 he took me aside and said to me, "Down there in the shop is a bunch of wood I want you to get, it's behind the door in a drum. I want you to use it and make what you can out of it. " I knew what he was talking about as I had seen it sitting there many times before. I went down and loaded it all up, took it home and used it when the opportunity arose.

There was one piece left when I started the last piece I posted here, the flip flop walking stick. I cut the piece in half and made the flip flop stick, leaving the other half sitting there.. staring at me.

Throughout the next several orders I worked on, I would glance at the piece of poplar sitting there. It was almost as if it was mocking me. I had an idea for a piece that I wanted to try, a snake with a skull on top of it, yet pending orders took my time. When I completed my last order I simply reached over, picked up the poplar and started carving, putting everything else on hold. If you create things you know what I mean when I say that it was burning a hole in my mind to be done...

I started by carving the skull, then had to thin the rest of the piece down. The wood was straight, so I had to carve all the curves into it. I had no direction on how to proceed with the snake so it simply took form as I went. All of this trimming away created one of the largest messes of my carving career... Yet as I went along I began to see the piece take shape. I don't use patterns and rarely draw out what it is that I'm carving so most things just happen as I go.

I am pleased with the outcome, yet sad that it represents the last of the wood that my father gave me. The "supply corner" that I keep the wood I'm going to use in looks rather forlorn... The last remnants of my dad are gone now. I hope he likes this piece and whoever ends up with it understands the significance of it.

The finished piece stands forty three and a half inches tall, carved from poplar, stained in two colors, coated in varnish and sells for $95


If you are interested in purchasing this piece email me at crickhollowcarving@gmail.com or call me at 678-423-6541