Finishing Up The April Tree Spirit

Way back in April I posted an article on the new tree spirit that I carved during an outside woodshop class which can be found here. At the time of the initial carving on April 9th the pictures didn't show the completed woodspirit with the honey brown stain so finally the picture to the left shows the completed carving.

As mentioned in the first posting I carved the spirit into a dead section of a large tulip poplar tree where a tractors bucket hit it several years ago. Unfortunate for the tree but on the other side of the coin, what a great opportunity for the woodcarver!

The woodspirit now stands guard at the entrance to one of our groups campsites to watch over and protect them during their stay in the forest. For two months now this particular group has had great respect for the carving and amazingly they have let it be with no scratches, cuts, or bruising. I hope that it will live on for many more years where hundreds of more kids can have their days graced by the watchful eye of the tree spirit.