I typically tell my students to not make sculptures or paintings of mushrooms because it gets a little cliche', so I'm guilty of breaking one of my own rules today. I'd seen some stump carvings here and there that are kind of fun and artsy (crafty too), so I decided my non-producing apple tree that was slowly dying would make a good candidate to attempt my first chainsaw carving.
The Start: I initially thought I would carve 2 or 3 mushrooms into each of the large trunks. This changed due to my inexperience, and due to all the knots that were below the trunk sections. I just didn't think it would be visually pleasing.
The Form: I usually start with a plan, but then give myself latitude to deviate from the plan. I'm no mushroom or morel expert, so I just wanted it to resemble something organic that wouldn't be confused for some other phallic form.
The Start: I initially thought I would carve 2 or 3 mushrooms into each of the large trunks. This changed due to my inexperience, and due to all the knots that were below the trunk sections. I just didn't think it would be visually pleasing.
The Form: I usually start with a plan, but then give myself latitude to deviate from the plan. I'm no mushroom or morel expert, so I just wanted it to resemble something organic that wouldn't be confused for some other phallic form.
What I learned: I've used chainsaws for standard tree cutting, but sculpting a form was a little scary. I'm pretty sure there are sculpture specific saws, but mine worked just fine for my purposes. I can't say I love my finished mushroom form. I think I overworked it and sawed off a little too much. If I do one again I'll spend less time worrying about it looking real, and do something that I just think feels right to me visually. The carving process took about an hour. With today experience, I definitively think I could speed up the overall process.
Last Reflection: "My Little Mushroom" kind of makes me sad. What once was a beautiful apple producing tree was reduced to a little mushroom yard sculpture.
Last Reflection: "My Little Mushroom" kind of makes me sad. What once was a beautiful apple producing tree was reduced to a little mushroom yard sculpture.