Thread: More pork?

My neighbours gifted me a couple of pieces timber from an old walnut grove. It had been on the ground for a while so is starting to deteriorate. Maybe good as it gives an owl like mottled effect to the grain, maybe bad as there are lots of little spots where the grain is collapsing. I previously mentioned that the rule in the workshop where I trained was that sandpaper and carvings never went together. Always just a tooled finish. This is the first piece I have done that I managed to observe this tradition.
The bird is meant to be a Southern Boobook. Sometimes also known as a Morepork or Mopoke or even Night Cuckoo because of it's call. Didn't quite get the startled look in the eyes as seen on the calendar picture.

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