Going For Shore Pose 1
A bear in motion stays in motion.
At least when this bear, (he or she) is immortalized in stone. This carving was given the name ‘Phelps’, (You might be able to figure out when I was carving it and it wasn’t during Shark Week) and will forever be in motion. Swimming , doing the front crawl is a totally different activity than a dancing bear . A dancing bear is vertical and not horizontal but also, dancing requires the balance of one small foot. How many swimming stone bears are out in the world? I am not sure.
I do know that, swimming bears are not classic soapstone carving models . This works on multiple levels as , I am not a classic soapstone carver either .
The motion of moving through the water is captured by the position of the paws but the abstraction of the back paws frees up the viewer to realize that he is not moving through the forest. Also, the Brazilian soapstone colours add to the sense of depth of this bear. The sleekness of the clear Kote, the colour of the stone and the motion captured. You know you want to touch it.
Love it when a carving comes together.
I haven’t felt the urge to carve another swimming bear since Phelps. There is only one. As for carving bears in motion however, I am 99% sure I will keep carving those.
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Thank you for coming by.