The stylized bird carvings was a commission which would sit atop the front edge of a reception desk. The carving was to be done in red Oak matching the desk. Durability was an important consideration because it would be placed front and center, allowing people to touch the carving.
After the design of the desk was approved, the scale of the carvings was determined. I outlined the birds on two pieces of material to determine the overall scale against the front panels.
The shapes were then bandsawn and checked again against the panels.
The shaping and carving is done in steps in order to maintain continuity across the pairs of birds. The carvings themselves came from a bird used on a previous cabinet. There was discussion on how many feathers and how “stylized” the bird should be. The intention was not to carve “realistically”. The birds were to appear a little angry as though they were fighting over the ribbon held in their beaks. This was done primarily with the angle of the eyes.
I used a router to define the straight areas of the ribbons.
The ends of the ribbons flowed up the curve and into the beak.
There was quite a distance between birds so I broke up the span by including a knot in the ribbon.
Here you can see the excavation and blending around the knot.
Beginning to shape the birds themselves and excavate to expose the ribbon.
The birds are roughed out but fairly similar.
Both pieces are complete.
I don’t like to sand carvings but it made sense for this application because people would be “handling “the carvings.
The desk was still being built but we couldn’t resist trying the birds in place.
Here is the front of the desk ready for shipping and installation. The drawer and storage components for the inside of the desk can be seen in the background.
