Where it all began
Finding myself in the middle of the California wine country, I wondered how I could merge my graphic design capabilities with my dimensional love of creating shadows by woodcarving. Then it dawned on me that if I could access a few of the thousands of wineries around me, perhaps I could convince some of the owners how great their logo would look on an
actual carved wine barrel.
Some forty barrels later, I discovered it could be done! The www.awshadows.com website is my portfolio of those, along with the carved barrelheads I have in six countries worldwide.
I took wine barrel carving as far as I wanted to. Simultaneously, the introduction of various technologies such as laser engraving, CNC routers (Computer Numerical Control ), with CAD (Computer Aided Design) software made carving by hand outrageously expensive. Winery owners and businesses associated with wine couldn't appreciate the difference.
The 'carving by hand' of wine barrels became obsolete.
I Took a Ten-Year Hiatus
The advent of LightMusic. I explored creating sculptures (or, as some would term, lamps) from broken musical instruments, giving them new valuable lives. Each sculpture was required to include a broken musical instrument, amain light, night light, and a candle holder for when there is no electricity. I used Plato's paraphrased quote: "Music gives your soul wings."
To be able to see the remaining inventory, you will have to be a member of Etsy, but they can be seen on the LightMusicDesign page on Etsy.
Returning to a First Love
AW Shadows Design woodcarving. As a toddler, my mother used to say I would love nothing more than to be wheeled up to a tree, where I would stare up for hours. Little did I know, the wood was whispering to me. The secrets of my ancestors and my true passion were being revealed to me.
I carve now to reveal the images already inside the wood. My imagination and the wood itself tell me what want to emmerge. My current carving work can be seen under the umbrella of AlChemy Ranch Studios.
