Walking Sticks

Walking sticks and canes have been around for years as aids for support and balance. Invariably artists and wanna be sculptors got involved in carving them, and a new art category materialized.

#2 is the most complex, and #4 is the simplest. #3 isn't even a cane, but the same techniques apply, so it's here.

#1 is a sassafras sapling. When a honeysuckle vine wraps around its host, it tries to strangle it. The sassafras fights back, and actually grows scar tissue which can totally envelop the vine and strangle it right back. This one was well on the way, so I helped it along with a little sculpting and got rid of the vine. The original bark, left in place, makes a great snake skin. His beady green eyes are maptacks.

Because of the helix shape, the sassafras ends up being structurally weak, and usually snaps in wind gusts before it's 8 years old. Otherwise they can grow to 2' diameters and more.

#2 is described in the comments under the next deviation.

#3 was going to be a 6' chain, but one of my sons convinced me not to finish it, so people could see how it evolved from a 2" x 2". The hook actually swivels, and it's all one piece of pine.

#4 is eastern mountain laurel, and it just grows this way, with the knob being the small burl between the stem and the roots. Very hard and very strong. The crooked shape has a lot of character.

#5 is a larger sassafras specimen, and I gave this rattlesnake a different treatment than #1.