Wolf Moon
In January, amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Native American villages. Thus, the villagers began calling Januarys full moon the Wolf Moon. The Wolf Moon was sometimes referred to as the Old Moon or the Moon After Yule. A total lunar eclipse happens when the Moon travels through the Earth’s umbra and blocks all direct sunlight from illuminating the Moon’s surface. However, some sunlight still reaches the lunar surface indirectly, via the Earth’s atmosphere, bathing the Moon in a reddish, yellow, or orange glow. these can be called Blood Moons and on these occasions, the howl of the wolf is even more eery.
The scene depicts a wolf baying at a blood moon deep in the forest. The carving was done to help a fellow carver with the problems of perspective in an animal he was caving. It was carved out of a piece of Alder trunk and hand-painted. The moon was made out of a piece of Yew which had a particularly interesting knot which I cut out for this project. I have an interest in all cultures and the link with the wolf and the North American Indians is one I will continue to explore.
Unfortunately the piece is too large to be place anywhere else but in my conservatory, my collection grows beyond my realms to store it.
