Octopus Sculpture 2. Sold.

Octopus Sculpture in Sweet Chestnut Burr
Hand carved wood original
Nabresina base
Height: 38 cm

This sculpture is sold, but please contact me if you are interested in commissioning a similar piece.

This octopus sculpture is hand carved from a single piece of sweet chestnut burr. The octopus, although complex in shape, has little fine detail (such as delicate feathers or feet on birds for example) and this allows the beauty of the wood to be seen in full. The sculpture is mounted so that it hugs the stone base very closely which was technically difficult to achieve. Carving from a single piece of wood also presents challenges – you cannot make a mistake, so every stroke of the blade has to be accurate – but keeping the wood in one piece is in my opinion the best way to see the burr at it most beautiful.

“When I used to work with animals, I was charged with looking after the aquarium where we had some large tanks with local fish species. One of the most popular residents was a curled octopus. I found it absolutely fascinating and would spend hours watching this amazing cephalopod stalking and attacking crabs. When I came across this particular piece of timber with its beautiful figuring, I immediately knew that I wanted to carve an octopus from it”.