River images

I haven't been paddling much lately. I have been teaching a lot and doing physical therapy for my shoulder. Enough about that though, here is a vase I had in my studio. I had always intended to do some carving on it. I decided to carve this Snowy Egret on it. I am pretty happy with how it came out. The vase is made from Sycamore. The picture is a combination of carving and wood burning. Stuff like this will keep my busy when I am unable to get out on the water. 

Lately there have been 2 wood storks hanging out at the drainage ditch by my house. I need to get some pictures of them the next time they are around.

DragonFlys

I have been seeing Dragon flies all spring and summer. They are usually seen darting over here and darting over there. They are excellent fliers. These 2 were taken on the Wacissa River the last time I was there. This big Blue one landed on my life jacket. I thought it was interesting that he would land on the blue part of my jacket. Anyway he stayed there long enough for me to take a picture. Now if I could have just gotten him to pose a little longer and maybe a shot from the top. 

I am pretty sure this one was laying eggs. I can imagine this is a dangerous activity for a Dragon Fly. I can imagine this Dragon Fly looking over her shoulder looking for a fish coming up looking for lunch. This one did get away clean. And hopefully we will have another crop of baby Dragon Flies to watch next year.
This is a piece of my woodturning that was inspired by the Dragon Flies I have been watching. The vase is made from Winged Elm (Thanks Florida Exotic Woods) This wood is very heavy. The logs this came from took 2 people to lift. It is a nice wood to work with and has a nice grain pattern. The piercing of the Dragon Fly was drawn on by hand. I did some wood burning to the lip of the vase to add some texture.
Enjoy,
 

Vase is Finished

The vase is finished and I have  picture posted on my woodturning site Click on the word to see the actual vase . This is a new direction for my work. Look for more in the future. I am planning on making a piece for each river that I paddle....

Lady bugs

This is a drawing of some lady bugs and a plan I have for making a vase.  I did finish turning it and did the wood burning and even the air brushing today. I am going to let it dry for a little while and apply a lacquer finish. I will post some pictures of the finished piece later. I will say the finished piece looks much better then the drawing.