Avian Form, 1999

Bird Sculpture

Stoney has made hundreds of sculptures over the past twenty years. Each sculpture is the result of an idea he wants to share with people who view his work. For example, sometimes he makes sculpture that represents people. Sometimes his sculpture represents landscapes.

Stoney has had a lifelong interest in birds and flight. Many of his sculptures are inspired by this interest.

This sculpture Avian Form (avian means about birds) was completed in the summer of 1999. It is made of red maple from a tree that once grew near Hendersonville, North Carolina. The wood has been marked by worms that lived in the tree. Stoney likes the design these marks make in the sculpture.

Another interesting thing about the wood is that it came from an unusual part of the tree called a burl. A burl is like a tumor that grows on the tree. It might be attached to the trunk, the roots or a limb. Stoney enjoys working with the burl of a tree because the wood grain has beautiful patterns.