New Hobby Sculpted from Beach Driftwood Finds
New Hobby Sculpted from Beach Driftwood Finds
Within the unclouded silver linings to emerge from the darkness of COVID-19 in recent months, creative expression has been a common thread. Fraught with unprecedented challenges and constraints in quarantine circumstances, many people have embraced the opportunity to nurture dormant or untapped artistic talents. The day-brightening results can be a pleasure to share on social media, which is how Glenn Gatley’s wood carvings came to the attention of Howler staff.
“While my wife keeps busy with reading, sewing and gardening, I found myself a new hobby in wood carving, specifically beach-found driftwood,” Gatley told us. “I’ve been finding and collecting interesting pieces of driftwood off of our local beaches to ultimately repurpose into various Costa Rican inspired sculptures.”
Gatley may not have envisioned his days in Costa Rica being spent this way when he and his wife permanently relocated here from the United States in early 2019.
“Like most people during this pandemic, we both found ourselves having to find new ways to occupy our time while remaining isolated at home.”
Each sculpture is completely handcrafted and unique, true to the original driftwood piece in its natural form, he explained.
“In addition, every carving is created entirely out of one single piece of wood, slowly removing the material to create the subject matter.”
Most of the final carvings are hand painted using acrylics and then treated with a sealing coat of polyurethane.