Rush Job

**Whittling** · 23rd June 2016, 10:54 AM

Seeing as we have been on the topic of different woods but basswood/linden/lime in particular, I thought you might find some illustrations of work in spalted lime of interest.

This one was a rush job for a local group of conservationists who primarily study the various dolphin pods in the area. They were celebrating the contributions of one of their members who owns a boat charter and who was retiring having sold the business. As a charter boat operator, he regularly took tourists out to see the Southern Right Whales during the winter months that they visit these waters.

The group asked me (last minute) if I had 'something' they could give him as a 'thank you' present during the celebratory dinner. I had nothing in the 'kitty'... all of my work being distributed between half a dozen art galleries so I was going to have to make this one from scratch. I had 5 days to do this as well as work on other commitments so the only way I could make it happen was to use a pattern I'd carved before. There wasn't time to develop anything new. Originally they asked for a dolphin, but I didn't have a dolphin pattern developed (an oversight I'm working on) so I asked if a SRW would do. They said it would. The result is below.

I've done this guy a few times in Jelutong and it is the basis of the enlarged 1 meter whale I posted back in November of last year (link here if you're interested...Southern Right Whale)... and recently sold to the SA Whale Museum in Victor Harbor.

I decided to try something different and as I have a small supply of spalted lime I thought I'd give it a go. Unlike normal lime it has a fairly strong visual grain and I wasn't sure it would work with a whale that in life is predominantly black with white callosities. However there is a variant of this colour pattern which is rare but occasionally seen in these waters called a 'Grey Morph' which is about the same colour as the spalted lime and often has odd patches of skin patterning that appear black against it coffee-coloured skin. I took a punt and I think it worked out ok.

The whale is in spalted lime, the base is a small piece of weathered mallee root. Both were finished in clear shellac but the base only got 2 coats and wasn't sanded or polished in any way. The whale got 6 coats with steel wool between each coat and a final coat of triple E wax/polish.

Hope you like...

**ClaudeF** · 23rd June 2016, 12:37 PM

Beautiful work!

Claude

**old1955** · 23rd June 2016, 12:43 PM

Very nice.

**Keith_1** · 24th June 2016, 08:19 PM

Top Stuff

Regards

Keith

**Mike the knife** · 24th June 2016, 11:59 PM

Ah! very nice ! I'm certain the lucky recipient will be delighted with that.

**Tahlee** · 25th June 2016, 06:55 AM

Beautiful

**Spiritwolfe** · 25th June 2016, 09:04 AM

Fabulous work whittling. The wood is perfect for the project. Even your photography is incredible . The back drop to resemble the ocean is amazing.

**Robthechisel** · 25th June 2016, 05:06 PM

Very nice Whittling, I like that better than Jelutong, The flow of the grain and black specs add more life to it. How did you do the little barnacle bits? with a rotary burr?

**Whittling** · 26th June 2016, 12:02 PM

Thanks guys,

The photos were taken by my wife who is a wildlife photographer. She reckons she has an easier time of it photographing genuine wildlife than she did with this because she claimed my hand/arm kept moving around. I was holding this thing out at arms length while she was setting up the shot and after a while even light weights begin to feel heavy in that pose... so I suppose it was a bit wobbly by the time she got everything the way she wanted it. I asked her how she got all those wild critters that she photographs to sit still for so long but she just gave me a 'look' (you know the one) and didn't answer.

)

The photo was taken right out the front of our place and overlooks the area that many whales are encountered during the season. Its the area the retiring boat tour operator used to work in so it was a suitable backdrop. The photo went on the front of a card that was presented to him at the dinner.

The 'barnacles' are actually callosities which each Southern Right Whale whale is born with. The pattern of callosities for each whale are as unique as fingerprints for humans. Its by these patterns that researchers are able to track individuals through their migration routes. My wife is part of a team developing a 'recognition' catalog for this area. Believe it or not... they actually use face recognition software to scan photos of whales taken by dozens of volunteers to record what whales went where all along the cost.

To carve the callosities I used rotary cutters, not burs as they chew things up too much. Start with larger diameters and work over the same area using progressively smaller cutters. On this scale it reaches a 'saturation' point pretty quickly. The larger scale whale I did last year gave more opportunity to play with this technique.

**Spiritwolfe** · 27th June 2016, 06:12 AM

Originally Posted by Whittling

Thanks guys,

The photos were taken by my wife who is a wildlife photographer. She reckons she has an easier time of it photographing genuine wildlife than she did with this because she claimed my hand/arm kept moving around. I was holding this thing out at arms length while she was setting up the shot and after a while even light weights begin to feel heavy in that pose... so I suppose it was a bit wobbly by the time she got everything the way she wanted it. I asked her how she got all those wild critters that she photographs to sit still for so long but she just gave me a 'look' (you know the one) and didn't answer.

)

The photo was taken right out the front of our place and overlooks the area that many whales are encountered during the season. Its the area the retiring boat tour operator used to work in so it was a suitable backdrop. The photo went on the front of a card that was presented to him at the dinner.

The 'barnacles' are actually callosities which each Southern Right Whale whale is born with. The pattern of callosities for each whale are as unique as fingerprints for humans. Its by these patterns that researchers are able to track individuals through their migration routes. My wife is part of a team developing a 'recognition' catalog for this area. Believe it or not... they actually use face recognition software to scan photos of whales taken by dozens of volunteers to record what whales went where all along the cost.

To carve the callosities I used rotary cutters, not burs as they chew things up too much. Start with larger diameters and work over the same area using progressively smaller cutters. On this scale it reaches a 'saturation' point pretty quickly. The larger scale whale I did last year gave more opportunity to play with this technique.

Hey Whittlng,I wanted so badly to ask if that's where you live but figured it was too intrusive but now that I know I've got to admit that I'm jealous. Not only jealous of where you live but your entire lifestyle. You both have a National Geographic lifestyle that many nature lovers could only dream about. To be a part of a team that's working on face recognition of migrating whales is incredible.
You both must be living out all yours passions right there. What a match! The carving is spectacular .
The photography incredible
Location breathtaking . I got choked up reading that because that would be my dream location also.
To have a view like that each day would rejuvenate any soul.
It's coming from more than just talent.
Yep! I'm a tad envious.
Well played. lol

**JJF** · 25th July 2016, 04:25 AM

very beautiful work!

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