Pistachio burl with inlays of stone. The base is Burmese Blackwood. Close to completion This piece has been most difficult. let me tell you some of the difficulties. The first was at the beginning, when I first mounted it on the lathe. It was so dry, "how dry was it" you say. It was so dry, as it was turning, and I was attempting to chisel away. Instead of streams of chips, flying through the air, all I got was dust, choking me in every way. I put it aside until, I thought I would add a mixer of shellac and alcohol. This worked well. I then had the shape I was after. I decided to added some color and minerals in a resin base. Well here is problem #2, the resin never harden, the hardener was out dated. Who knew. What a mess. Problem #3, how to remove sticky mess. With out inlays Sticky mess, I tried soaking in alcohol, (oh I need more alcohol), That really helped, but as you can imagine, the resin filled with copper dust, malachite, turquoise, and much ...
From my mind as a black man living in modern American social ills. Gerard Merchant was born in 1959 in Lynchburg, Virginia. My works are primarily in wood sculpture. My sculptures emerge through a process of retakes and variations that mark my creative journey of examining the ambiguity between my vision, and the wood’s already exquisite origination. As I execute unclear and less formal rules and which should always reference the partnership with Nature, we create Art.