"RED FEATHER SPRING"
 
#71 - Cardinal & Dogwood Blossoms
 
9 inches - Edition of 350
 
Gallery Retail: $700
 

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 © 1997-2006 - Bill & Rebecca Hunt - All Rights Reserved

This is "Red Feather Spring",  a male Cardinal with Dogwood Blossoms.  The Cardinal itself is life sized; 7 inches long and the piece stands 9 inches tall overall.   I used a neat little piece of drift wood that works here as a cantilevered perch.  (I'm always looking for interesting shapes in stone and wood, that will serve as perches or bases for my various sculptures.)  I made a  simple armature out of a few pieces of Copper sheet.  I also cut leaf and petal shapes out of Copper sheet.  I covered this with hot wax, and built up the wax over the copper armature and shapes.  The hot wax also seals the wood and makes it easier when it comes time to build the molds.  Then I carved the wax much like a wood carver might do.  Unlike a woodcarver though, I can add material back and build up the wax if I need to.  I like this tail up, head cocked to one side attitude.

The Art Bronze industry has come up with new ways to color hot cast bronze in recent years.  Here, the red is a water based dye that is applied Hot like traditional hot chemical patinas.  This is the first time I have used the red dye this extensively, but I have used it before on the Red Eared Sliders,  and on "Fly Fishing"  to color the Sockeye Salmon.  First, the Cardinal is polished with fine abrasives.  Then it is heated up with a propane torch, so that when the dye is applied, the water instantly evaporates, leaving the dye on the surface.  The dye is transparent, and it brushed on in many layers, all the while applying the heat, to produce this rich, deep color.   The application and the result is similar to a Candy Apple Red paint job on a custom car.   This reminds the viewer that this is a piece of bronze metal and not wood.  The colors on the rest of this piece are my tried and true hot chemical patinas with some touch up work by Rebecca with acrylics where necessary -  So, here  for your approval, are four different views of "Red Feather Spring".  

Cardinals are the State Bird of no less than 7 States including: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.   I lived in North Carolina for a time in the mid '70s, a few years before I thought of becoming a sculptor.   I was doing fisheries research for Duke Power Company on Lake Norman and I was able to spend much of my time in the field.  I remember seeing Cardinals and many other new and unfamiliar birds and animals, as I had spent most of my previous life in California.   I recall that Springtime in the Carolinas was glorious, and the Dogwoods and other trees and plants where just beautiful!  It took me a while to realize that the Eastern Seaboard is Temperate Hardwood Rainforest.  I had come to North Carolina from Humboldt State University on the Redwood Coast of Northern California; also a temperate Rainforest.  So, as a Wildlife Sculptor, I like to add Botanicals to my work where it's appropriate.   The Mangroves and Cattails supporting my Wading Birds  for example.  Also the Water Lilly,  Bird of Paradise blossom and Pitcher Plant, all supporting  Frogs.   Black Capped  Chickadee and Holly.  Does Kelp count as a Botanical?   I used it to support my Ocean Sunfish; Mola mola  too.