Osprey

The central idea for the Osprey carving was created in response to the client’s comments while he was looking at the Stalled Raven. The suspension and the activity level of the carving intrigued him. I wanted to continue the idea of giving the carving a very similar look as well as keeping the piece unique and fresh as a creative force. It was not difficult to link the idea of the two carvings, they were very similar in their time frames and presentation. The time frame is important in both pieces because it is an extremely momentary event happening in a fragmented environment that will disappear in a split second.
The viewer of the piece is there to catch the moment that the bird is caught up in.
This allows a narrative in the carving that has many different options. In the raven the bird is caught in a gust of wind represented by the cluster of leaves that the bird is suspended in. The osprey is caught in the frantic fight of the fish that is struggling to stay out of harms way, this tenacious fighter skips and hops in a chaotic fashion all over the surface of the water. This action creates a pool of puddles and spray from it’s body that is linked to give the piece a unique lift and an airborne dimension to it’s base. This is enhanced by the action of the bird that is floating over the surface of the water with the airborne fish barely within reach. The wings are on the recovery beat and as a result are in an extremely awkward position. The bird floats over the event almost waiting for it to continue certain of it’s outcome. This enhances the narrative giving rise to speculation as to what will be, is the fish caught or not.
The osprey is hunting, it is involved in a struggle, the raven is playing, and it is not threatened in any way. The two birds are involved in what appears to be similar situations but in reality the contrast is as different as the worlds they are portrayed in. In many ways the osprey and the fish could switch places. The fish is a bird of the water and the osprey a fish of the air. Neither could survive for very long in each others environment. The raven is being supported or pushed along by the wind, a force of nature it lives in but has no control over. The osprey’s purpose for being there is to catch the fish. The fish is trying to stay alive and a force the osprey can harness if it catches it. If it misses the fish survives and the bird goes hungry, it will try again, the raven will catch another breeze but it will not go hungry if it does not.