• Woods used in this piece: maple, cherry, poplar, alder

• Dimensions: 19.75” x 10.25"

NOTE: This art piece is not food safe, and is meant for wall hanging only. Do not use as a food surface.

How is this made?

First, I choose two contrasting pieces of wood and stack them on top of each other, fixing them in place with heavy-duty tape. I run these taped pieces together through a bandsaw, cutting a wavy line all the way through them.

Once I’ve removed the tape, I now have four pieces of wood: the two halves of the top piece, and the two halves of the bottom piece. Since the boards were cut together, the cut profiles are exactly the same. This allows me to swap one half of the top board with the corresponding half from the bottom board, creating a two-toned mountain pattern. I glue these pieces together to form two new patchwork boards.

Once the glue is dry, I scrape off as much as I can and run the pieces through a planer to get them flat enough to stack on top of each other. Then I return to the bandsaw to make another wave cut.

I repeat this process several times (cut & glue up; cut & glue up), till I’m satisfied with the look of the board. Then I give it a final planing to remove any glue or uneven seams, sand to create a silky smooth surface, and use a hand-held router to round over the edges.

I then move from the wood shop to the art studio to hand-burn the outline of the elk, and fill it with an acrylic paint pour.

The piece is finished with a coat of shellac, and comes with a sawtooth hanger on the back for easy wall hanging.