Carving the Ocean’s Pull: A Sculpture for a Man Who Loved the Sea #woodworking #sculpture #art

A client asked me to create a sculpture in memory of her husband, a man who spent his life in the Coast Guard and loved the ocean. She wanted it to reflect that love the way the sea never really let him go. The plan was to arrange these wood carvings, now drying in the solar kiln, in a slow swirly current fading from the beach into the deep. The illusion only works if every piece locks into place. Without that precision, the eye won't be drawn into the center, the way the tide drew him back. The frame is just as much a part of the story, a jagged border cut from the same gumalina wood echoing the shoreline it represents. The finish was my biggest gamble. I tried a candy coating tint for a glossy glittering surface like sunlight on water, but it didn't have the right mood, so I reworked the finish and added a soft matte instead. Even without the gloss, the wood still catches the light and even has a glass-like clink that I love. Weeks of carving, sanding, and second guessing put me behind schedule, the sort of delay that can sink a commission. But when I told her, she only said, take the time that it needs. And with that, I worked until I really felt it was finished. My hope is that when she sees it, she feels that same quiet steady pull the sea had on him.