These unique hand painted sculptures are hewn from 250-400 year old Tallowwood trees (Eucalyptus Microcorys) ringbarked under the Settlers Act during World War 1 by settler farmers in the Tweed Valley of northern New South Wales in the process of clearing the land to raise dairy cattle. Traditionally used for heavy engineering including bridges and flooring, Tallowwood timber is prized for its durability. Thus, in spite of relocating to the Whitsunday’s in 1999, I continue to source my sculpting timber from the Tweed Valley, as it is an incomparable hardwood suitable for interior or exterior siting as well as being environmentally sustainable.
After initial preparation and carving, detailed one-off designs are created applying multiple layers of intense, hand-mixed colour utilizing a range of durable, exterior paints.
I am drawn to the notion of giving a second life to this timber which would otherwise remain dead and unused in the ground. In an animistic sense, the dead tree becomes the archetypal ‘mother’ from which other iconic forms or personages are born.
