Walking Cyprus!

Last semester in a materials based class I tried wood carving for the first time and it was AWESOME! Took forever, and I got so many blisters but it was worth it! I bought some stumps at a lumber yard and though I was feeling kind of ambitious for this project I was only able to make one Cyprus seedling. And I didn't even slack off or anything, it just took so long to make one, I didn't have time to make any more!

So the story with this describes the transportation and growth of the Cyprus trees. I'll have to post pictures of my sketch for this sculpture, but basically I imagined these pods with little baby seedlings inside growing from adult Cyprus tress. When the pods would fall to the ground, the seedlings would stand up on their two little legs and run through the forest in search of a good spot to grow. Once they find their spot, their flip themselves over and plant themselves into the ground, where their bodies round out and branch out into a stubby little sapling and then eventually grow into a Cyprus tree.

The legs are jointed and can kick back and forth. The body and legs were carved and sanded and then finished with some finishing wax. The body was one stump while the shell was another stump. For the shell I cut the general half-circle shape out on a ban saw and then chiseled away at the insides to hollow it out. Once I got my desired form I used wood glue and a nail gun to reattach Cyprus bark to it's exterior. Shoved the little dude in the shell and done!