DRIFTWOOD ARTIST???

          Last August, I blogged about my driftwood sculpture experience(s). Today, Saturday, I officially joined the Northwest Driftwood Artists (NWDA) organization at its January meeting. Not only that, but I was the last to arrive (late damn it), and when the drawing was held for the monthly prize, my number was drawn and I received a $40.00 tool for use on large pieces of driftwood. I also took advantage of the tool sale NWDA was holding and added to my tool collection.

          One of the members who has been with NWDA from practically the beginning and now serves as the historian gave a talk about the early history. I was amazed to learn how far back…the 1960s…NWDA originated. I believe there has been a number of names for the organization over the years. There was a notebook that covered some of the early times and apparently there are three additional notebooks. I was able to leaf through it, but what I really wanted to do was sit down and read page by page, all the newspaper articles about the events of those years. I also wished the photos of the driftwood sculptures had all been in color.

          It’s exciting to be in a room with other individuals who are pursuing this craft. Listening to these people who have so many years’ experiences under their belts made me want to return home and dedicate the remainder of my day to working on Percy the Porpoise. It also made me eager to go out and look for additional pieces of driftwood, or any wood really for that matter as illustrated by one of the historian’s tales.

She and her family had property on a river up near Mt. Pilchuck. They took a drive up part of the mountain to an area was being cleared for some purpose. There was a huge pile of wood the tractor had shoved out of the cleared space. She thought one piece in particular looked interesting, climbed up the pile, gave it a kick to see if it would move and then sent it tumbling down to the road. It took her husband and teenage son to load it into the station wagon…it weighed almost seventy pounds.

          We weren’t told how long it took for her to complete her sculpture. When finished, it weighed only forty-eight pounds, was four feet wide and resembled a coiled serpent. It was the tree burls that made the coils. The tree trunk below the burls was sawn off to provide the base. She didn’t have a photo with her, but is going to bring one next month. I would love to find a big piece of wood to turn into something wonderful like her sculpture.

          When I blogged about my new endeavor last August I intended to include a photo of Ott the Otter but failed to do so, but am including it here.

          I encourage you, dear reader, to visit northwestdriftwoodartists.org. There are terrific photos of the submissions to the 2023 exhibit.

          Now, I must close this post because I can hear Percy calling my name…he wants to be sanded until he feels as smooth as if he were a real porpoise.