The Leaping Trout
At the beginning of the pandemic when everything was shutting down, I thought about what I was going to do. With months ahead and having to shield due to my wife’s condition, I needed a big project. I had various parts of a cherry tree trunk and had been volunteering with the canal trust, I had the idea to do something for them. A large fish seemed to fit as they had a salmon ladder at the barrage in Teesside, so off I went. I created an outside lean-to at the bottom of my garden where I could carve in the dry, added power, light and all was good. The next few weeks I mocked up the shape with chainsaw and Arbernet until it looked like a fish (I’m not a big fan of chainsaws and reduced the blade size down to 12” as I feel I have more control).
Then the doldrums set in and it took me months to get going again. I picked at it and procrastinated, but no major movement occurred until late August 2020. I then got a second wind and put a few weeks of good work into getting the fish shaped and smoothed off.
I was pleased with the outcome, but had a quandary…to add scales or not or to colour it or not??? I started with the scales and it looked strange and it lost the colour and grain of the wood, so after completing half of one side, I polished it all off again and had a rethink. The results of sanding it down again gave me the chance to add more flow into the body and slim him down a bit more. He was a bit too chunky.
In the meantime the fins we made out of mahogany and the water splash effect on the base were tested and perfected. I again took a break, as I worked out how to do the fish’s markings and how much detail to add in. By the end of August 2021, I needed to finish it and went at it full hog. All the features were done, some tests on which stains to use to match the desired effect were completed. I chose to use pyrography for the markings with a touch of white paint on the body and the splash effect in the water. I’m not sure where along the line he change species from a salmon to a trout, but I think it had to do with its markings and the fact I didn’t get the head features right for a salmon. The trout really came alive as I added the preservative which added the wet body effect. The end result was great and I’m finding it difficult to pass him on to its new home, even though I don’t have the space for him here.
The Leaping Trout was carved out of a 3ft high cherry tree truck, coloured with spirit stains, and finished with a preservative. And now onto the next big idea…Maybe a Kingfisher???? I just can’t help myself.