Author Archives: depolorization

Killer Whale Fence Sculpture

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If you follow my blog, you know that I am interested in marine animals.

Killer whales or orcas, are very social animals. They are known as “The Wolves of the Sea,” as they hunt in packs.

I saw this amazing Pacific Northwest tribal orca hanging on the back of a log cabin. I knew that one day I would make a similar orca sculpture. Last month, that day came.

I began by gluing up some scrap lumber from a floating shelf project and some old plywood.

While the wood was clamped, I began to sketch out the design.

Once sketched, I used my saber saw to cut it out. In the process, I broke off one side of the fluke. No problem – glue and a clamp to the rescue. The orca is 28″ high and 46″ long.

When painting the body, the black paint reacted to one of the boards that was stained. Careful when applying one type of paint over another. This bubbled up. I consulted the web on what to do and easily corrected the problem.

With the body painted all back, I used chalk to outline the areas that I wanted to paint.

Here is the finished piece.

Orcas are the guardians of the sea. I am honored to hang this in the yard!

Trinity College Dublin

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A number of years ago, I went to Ireland for 18 wonderful days. What a trip it was! Ireland is an amazing country, as are the people who live there.

One of the things that my awesome vacation planner did, was to schedule some time at Trinity College. In fact, one night we stayed in the dorm. Classes were not in session, so you can rent a room out. We got Room 28.

Here are some pictures that I took at the college.

Looking out the window from Room 28, it was dark. There were some bikes just outside, illuminated by the street light. I wanted that image. It reminded me of something out of a ‘Harry Potter’ movie. I set the shutter to remain open. I can’t recall for how long – 4 seconds maybe. However, during the time the shutter was open, three people walked by. In the final image, they appear as wispy ghosts, just in front of the bikes. If you enlarge the image, you can really see the ghosts. I don’t normally title many of my photos, but I had to title this one “Trinity Ghosts.”

Trinity College houses the “Book of Kells.” One of the most beautiful ‘illuminated manuscripts’ in European history.

Here is a student outside our dorm room. I couldn’t help but think how this light was illuminating his manuscript. Perhaps a best seller in progress?

If I had been a professor of Research Psychology at the college, this would have been my office window. Why? Of course, the wine bottles give it away.

This sculpture, resides just outside the entry into the library. A ‘Sphere Within Sphere or Sfera con Sefra,’ is an amazing bronze done by Italian artist Arnaldo Pomodoro. Another of the artist’s spherical sculptures resides on the Cal Berkeley campus. There are a number of these spheres, ranging in different sizes, at institutions around the world.

It is said that there are two kinds of people in this world, those who are Irish, and those who want to be Irish. Having spent time in Ireland, I understand that saying very well!