Tale of Attitude

Working in raw forms of wood sometimes allows

 me to remove very little wood to create a masterpiece.

The raw form - pine

Discovery and vision are key

A tung oil finish and the sculpture will be complete

(c) 2004 Ken Newman Sculptures
Tale of Attitude

Found at the elevation of 8,000 feet, I rolled a large old weathered stump off a mountain when this this small piece broke off. I carted it back to the trailer in hopes of retrieving the larger stump later. The form was simple and the concept evolved as it sat beside the trailer.

This sculpture is all about the raw weathered wood, less than 10% of the wood was removed to create this well-balanced trophy pheasant. The rhythmic motion of the wood provided just enough mass to sculpt the pheasant in a unique scratching and dusting position, and oh what a tale of that tail.

The sculpture was inspired several years ago, when I arrived back to Idaho in the Spring from Scottsdale, Arizona.  I was greeted by the call of a lone male pheasant in search of a mate. The diligence at which he crowed on the half hour became almost heart felt. The local pheasant population has declined. This decline is both nature and man related – weather and predation along with agricultural change and development has taken its toll on the pheasant population.

Yes, I went back for the  larger stump… Precipitous Drop—the coyote and chukar sculpture is the result.


The sculpture resides outside Chicago in a home on a Nature Conservancy!

AWARDS AND Exhibitions

Patricia A Bott Creative Excellence Award at the 44th Annual Society of Animal Artists’ Exhibition at the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, Oradell NJ

Art and the Animal  2004-2006 Tour, West Valley Art Museum, Surprise AZ, Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, Peoria IL, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Norman OK, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln NE and the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson AZ

Bird Art Award at the 57th Wind River National Art Exhibition, Dubois WY

Published in Fine Woodworking-May/June 2007 and Woodcarving Illustrated-Dec 2006