Recently I completed this sculpture piece, titled Indigonsininen Jalohaukka. It is Finnish for “The Indigo Falcon.” The piece is made from American cherry, colored with an indigo solution, and finished in twelve coats of tung oil.

The intent is to show the bird of prey in a position of observation and contemplation (thus the head angle and “body forward” stance).

The following images show part of the shaping, from early in the process to completion.

Beginning with a glue block, I roughed the shape on the band saw, which allowed me to consider the approximate positions of head, wings, tail, legs, etc.

Much of the shaping was completed with an angle grinder and various grinding wheels, manufactured by Holy Galahad.

Once rough shaping was beginning to expose the bird’s general features, I used a pencil to show areas in need of material removal.

The process between the previous image and this one required significant time and the following sequence of sand paper grits: #60, #80, #120, #150, #220, #400, #800, #1200, #1500, #2000