Seahorse Sculpture, revisited

Several years ago I made a seahorse for my daughter using the same pattern… this time I took the details several steps further and I shaped the base to resemble sand at the bottom of the ocean. The seahorse was made by cutting a hardboard template, which was used to trace the pattern onto 4 pieces of 3/4” plywood. These 4 were cut out using a scroll saw and then glued together to make the seahorse blank. I used various power grinders and drum sanders and flap sanders to shape the seahorse. It was finished w/ several coats of spray lacquer, hand sanding in between coats, and the last 2 coats were glossy. The last pic shows an eye carved on 3 levels (unfinished). At the Scroll Saw Trade Show in WI, this project got a 3rd place ribbon in the “Open, Complex” category… a judge told me they loved it, but downgraded it because they couldn’t tell how much was cut on scroll saw and how much on the band saw… if they only would have asked me!

-- Spence in Skokie, IL