I love living life in a random and unplanned way because you never know how life is going to surprise you around the next bend. The highlight of my recent trip to Seattle was a serendipitous encounter on an evening walk along a West Seattle beach. The driftwood scattered along the water’s edge inspired me with colors and patterns, so I was exploring images with my camera. From a distance, my eye caught an intriguing motif carved into a huge driftwood log. As I closed in on the artwork, I discovered this beautiful bird in an Alaskan Indian motif. The grayed coloring told me it had been there quite a while and possible stories filled my mind such as Indian rituals or totem carving.
After exhausting the potential photo masterpieces from this random artwork, I continued my stroll along the rocky water’s edge for another mile sifting through the driftwood treasures.
When I came upon this second carving, the story began to get a little clearer. This one was in the same Alaskan tribal motif but you could tell it had been completed in the not so distant past. In fact, the shavings were still near which told me that the artist had carved it on this beach like a natural graffiti tagger! My beach stroll now turned into a treasure hunt. Little did I know that life was going to give me another surprise.
In the distance I saw a man with a backpack straddling a large driftwood log bent over in focused concentration. As I closed in, I could not believe what I was seeing. The man was carving an Alaskan tribal motif! I had happened upon the actual artist of my story! I introduced myself to Steven and expressed my joy in his art. I showed him my pictures of his other pieces and shared my love of life’s surprises. To my greatest surprise, he gave me some insight into carving techniques and let me try my own hand in his creation!
This chance experience made my day. Life can be magical when you open your eyes and take the time to explore.
Hi Lisa,
My father (Stephen) and I have been carving on Lincoln for the last several years. We finished the Wolf and the Kingfisher in June and August. The Thunderbird was done in 2014. We did a carving of a Sea Lion in 2012, but it floated away in 2013 with one of the kingtides. Hopefully one day it will show up again. Close to the pool at Lincoln we have two more carvings, a snail and a salmon. I can mail you pictures if you wish. You’re pictures are great and I’m sure you had fun carving with my dad. All the best! David.
Hi Lisa, I meant June and July. The wolf was finished the last week of June and started on the Kingfisher the first of July while my father was back in Phoenix for business. I had finished the Kingfisher on the 6th of July and had to fly back home (Spain) and my father returned on the 12 to put on the final cuts and embellish the Kingfisher. The carving took me and my brother approximately 60 hours and I think my father put in another 20 hours. The trunk in Cedar and I’m sure you noticed when you were carving how great it smelled. We are really happy with the kingfisher and how beautiful it turned out. David.
Hi David, I did get back to lincoln Park and found the snail and Salmon. I am going to post those pictures soon and I will include you and your brother in the post. I love what you guys are doing and look forward to getting back and exploring for more found treasures.