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If you saw my last project you would understand this one a bit more. I am hooked on the process of turning old hood ornaments into sculptural pieces…of course some of them naturally are. I call this piece "Blur" and it uses a 1959-64 Nash Rambler hood ornament.

The process starts by making a template of the curve of the hood ornament. I use that to start designing the shape of the piece. Mainly trying to blend all the curves with the actual hood ornament. When the basic design is done I transfer it to a piece of paper and attach it to the main piece of wood I will be starting with. In this case it was an insanely figured pieced of birdseye maple. After the initial cuts I figure out the mounting scheme of the hood ornament so that I can temporarily attach it to the wood. Once that is done I can trace around shape of the hood ornament so I have a reference line on where to shape the wood. Then fun part starts…the shaping. The rough shaping is done with a Foredom rotary carver. All the fine tuning is done with rasps. When doing this piece I left the shaping on the bottom portion until last. I wanted to add a different wood to the bottom to give it more of a solid feeling. The base is made of of rosewood and a piece of ash veneer.

"Blur" is finished with four soakings of Danish oil and then waxed twice. I hope you enjoy it. Time to finish up my Oldsmobile Rocket one now!

Gallery

Comments

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2,185 Posts
What fun.
You sure have an eye for design.

A true museum quality piece.

Good work.
Steve
 

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Visually very appealing to me. Your craftsmanship make it stand out. Third one is a charm like the previous 2.
 

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Very interesting piece, and idea. A great finish and look.
 

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Unique for sure.
 

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You sure know how to create interesting sculptures using wood and other things!
Great piece. I look forward to your next creation!
 

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Very nice sculpture, great workmanship.
 

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Sorry, I thought it was a spaghetti measurement device. LOL! When I saw the shark fin, I knew it must be Wifi.
 

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It's unique and well executed! I think you are going down a creation path!
 

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I'm liking them all.
Keep'em coming.
 

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I am very happy you are liking them guys! Thank you for all the kind comments. They are definitely an avenue I will be frequently visiting. I have already started to collect a small horde of ornaments to work on.
 

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So Jeff, been to Venice?
This really reminds me of the "ferro di prua" or bow iron of a Venetian gondola. They have six tines to represent the six districts of Venice but the resemblance is certainly there.
Your work always demands several returns to look again.
Another great piece!
 

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An artist I know said something like, put some small detail into a piece that no one will notice. Don't talk about it. Just put something somewhere. When people find it, their heads will spin. Your attention to detail, that little "extra touch," will take its visual appeal over the top, for someone.

And, this is why I read the comments on my Buddies' posts. Paul's comment sent me back to the photos. That but of veneer in the base, for me, sent this Thing over the top. I don't know how much more clear I know how to be on this. Other than to say that, when I noticed that little, unnecessarily humble detail, this Thing went from "that's nice," to "that's extraordinary."

And then, it went to my Favorites folder.
 

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I like it!
 

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Interesting and beautiful as the other ones are.
 

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Artistic. Historic. Attractive and well made.
 
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