John Tucker, Intarsia Lion (ART & OBJECTS 2025)

Photos:

Self

Country

Australia

This project was very enjoyable to execute, (apart from a lot of patience) due to so much planning and decisions re types of timber and colours. This was essential for grading of the colours in the lion's mane to be lighter under the chin and increase in colour intensity up the cheeks until the classic dark mane about the head. You can actually visualize this lion's head camouflaged behind tall dried grass. The staring eyes look right through you, (firmly fixed on it's prey), this took about 5 attempts to achieve. With the effect of the raised area's such as the nose, cheeks and chin gives you the true sense of a real lions distinctive features. The use of dark, medium and light coloured woods also enhanses the realistic appearance of an agrresive lion. The total number of individual segments is 256, all of which were cut on a scroll saw, sanded and with a light box, tinkered until each piece meshed neatly with the adjoining component. This has been a true labor of love, especially when familly and friends express the WOW factor. I hope that this piece of art gives enjoyment to all that view it. The whiskers were achieved by using fine artist cord that was washed with diluted Selleys aquadhere glue which made it very stiff once dried. Very fine holes were drilled into the cheeks and the cord was inserted and glued. The true rich collours of the woods has been highlighted by applying three coats of danish oil.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.