Spirit of the Seal: mahogany 2003

This piece is based on a northern Native American design called "The Spirit of the Seal".  It is one of two such carvings completed respectively by my father and me.  Both carvings are based on the same image that features a human face (the spirit) on the body of the seal carved around/behind it.  When I was a child, my father taught me the basics of chisel carving using this "Spirit of the Seal" design.  It was years later that I carved my own version of it (shown below) as a tribute to the impact that those early carving lessons had on me. Today, both of these carvings hang on the wall at my father's house.  I'll add pictures of the original design and of my father's version later.

Original carving by Andrew Worsnopp, 1986

      Spirit of the seal.  Alaskan Native design



Will Worsnopp, Dickinson College, Bronx High School of Science, Sidney Central School, carving, powercarver, MATSL, Bennington College,