Spalted Maple Elephant

[Dan Wegiel]

Hi all,
A week ago I didn't know there was such a thing as "Spalted" wood, then W. Dubois posted a pic of a bowl he made out of spalted birch so I did some research and found that only Maple, Birch & Beech become spalted. Tuesday I was getting ready to throw a piece of wood in the fireplace and noticed the discoloration and unusual grain so I put it aside til morning and when I looked at I immediately saw this little elephant and started carving it out. The wood itself is beautiful and is 10 1/2" tall by 6 1/2" wide, hand carved with only natural danish oil applied. Hope you like it and thanks again to W. Dubois for educating me. A few progression pics, all comments welcome & appreciated.
Dan

[Dagwood]

very cool...keep them comeing

[Dan Wegiel]

Thanks DWAYNE, I appreciate your kind words, and yes I'm gonna try to keep them coming.

Dan

[schaf]

Dan, he is coming along very nicely. You can even see the gait of the elephant starting to appear.

Terry

[bigEd_H]

I always enjoy seeing your carvings, Dan. I like the way you use the natural contour and grain of the wood to carve the images you find there. Spalted wood has a beautiful grain. It's a good thing you saved that elephant from the fire. Thanks for sharing.

[markken5889]

Hi Dan,

Nice catch on finding that spalting - it's a beautiful piece of wood, and you've done a great job of catching the elephant in there. Nice work!!!

Mark

[RiverOtterRustics]

A perfect pachyderm there Dan! Nice spalted piece. I like the Danish oil finish you used too.. Great Job! Good thing it didn't make it to the fireplace

[Dan Wegiel]

Thanks Terry your comments are appreciated. I'm actually finished with it, I just carve what I invision, not much detail, just enough for you to know what it is, then spend a bunch of time polishing the wood itself, its the way I like to carve. Thanks for checking it out.

Dan

[Dan Wegiel]

Hi Ed, always look forward to your comments. Can't believe how naive I am, didn't even know I had a huge spalted maple tree, thought the wood was just past prime. I'm 63 and am always open to learning new things, this is a great surprise. Appreciate your kind words, gotta get busy, way too many critters waitin' for me to carve em out.
Dan

[Dan Wegiel]

Thanks Mark, it is a great catch, problem is, so much wood and so little time. Thanks again.

Dan