Descending Ashtray

After a minor mishap with a Flexcut knife (broke the handle) and a Sunday spent carving, I’ve completed this year’s Santa carving: a Northwest Native-American-inspired Christmas Totem Pole. I tried to incorporate stylistic elements of the coastal carving tradition, to varying degrees of effectiveness. I really like the simple color scheme, as well as the additional elements added as separate pieces of wood (Frosty’s nose, Rudolph’s antlers). I’m not so crazy about my grasp of the NW style, but I think my grandmother will like it better this way, in a somewhat folk/somewhat NW style.

I used the vinegar/steel wool treatment as a way to age and weather the yellow cedar a bit - at first it turned a scary brown, but greyed as it dried, to a color that actually mimics red cedar a little more closely (the traditional wood used in totem poles). I then used diluted gouache in red, white and black, which I sanded lightly to reveal the wood beneath in some places, giving it an aged appearance. The nose and antlers are doweled on.

Anybody find my cutting board yet? I’ve posted it this month sometime, although it’s a bit hard to find!