“Caretta” – 2019, walnut and scorched maple. This loggerhead sea turtle started as a simple experiment after I sliced up a walnut firewood log into “cookies” and had a vision of turtle shell scutes in the endgrain patterns. I then designed the shape in illustrator, basing it on a few different turtles. The shell pieces were cut on the scrollsaw, shaped with an oscillating sander, epoxied, and sanded silky smooth. The fins and head were cut from maple, which I shaped with a variety of @saburrtooth carbide bits and sanders, burned with a blowtorch, and the spaces between the scales were ground with more bits and hand-carved with gouges. A final bit of detail was burned with @tamarynart’s @colwoodwoodburning wood burner. Finished with @odiesoil specifically because I wanted to retain the super-smooth natural wood feeling of the shell. All in all, I’m pretty excited with how it turned out! The entire process took just over three weeks, taking up most of my personal free time. Most of that was sanding and shaping. I documented the entire process in stories which are now archived as a highlight in my Instagram profile for those of you curious to see how it was made.