
bronze, I also like to explore a variety of combustible found objects and materials.
I find they can provide both familiar and unusual textures and forms, as well as having the potential be transformed into something totally new and unique.
I found some interesting pods among
the dried flowers at an arts & crafts store. They were 5 sided and had a woody exterior that had a variety of textures. One end of the pod was pointed and the other had an extended 'collar' where the pod would have been attached to a stem. I also found some lotus flower seed pods that each held many oval seeds. By adding four bent twigs from
an old lilac bush, I ended up constructing a long legged, pop-eyed, snout-nosed bug.

bug were not very secure because the interior of the pod was very 'pithy'. The resulting bronze cast of the piece was successful in capturing the details on the surface of the pod and the legs - and the legs were firmly attached. This initial 'test bug', combined with a sizable bronze frog and two antique wooden croquet stakes, then became my sculpture 'After Dark' (see photo on bronze sculpture page of website). The success of the first pod bug led me
to make and cast two additional bugs. After I patina them, I will mount them on a piece of weathered wood (see
image below) to become the sculpture 'Guardian'.
P.S. There may also be a few pod 'birds' in my future...