Here are the stages involved in the making of an Arbor sculpture.  These sculptures are very popular and look lovely as a single sculpture or set of 3 sculptures.

Stage 1

I generally like to use kiln dried Ash or Oak for making the trunks for these sculptures.  Once the board is cut to length I draw the basic shape of the sculpture and then cut it out using a bandsaw.  The bandsaw makes light work of cutting the basic shape.

Stage 2

I start to carve the rough shape of the trunk then sand it into a more defined shape.  Then the carving begins using a very sharp V gauge, this creates the fine lines of the ‘bark’ detail.

Stage 3

I now start work on the fused glass section of the sculpture.  I always start with a clear piece of glass the shape I am going to make.  I then select the different colours of coloured glass and cut these into strips and start to lay down layers over the base glass.  You can see how layering transparent glass over opalescent glass gives you better colour blending.  At this stage the 3 small glass squares are added; this is my ‘signature’.  Once all the glass is cut to size it is then fired in the kiln.  Once the glass has cooled down it is then fitted into the wooden trunk of the sculpture.

Stage 4

The finished arbor sculpture is then given several coats of oil over a period of 3 days.  The sculpture is then photographed, packed  and ready to go to the gallery.  The Arbor sculpture comes in 3 sizes:

Large (380mm high)

Medium (320mm high)

Small (260mm high)

The fused glass can be made in any colour combination and the wooden trunk can be smoked black, lime waxed or left natural.