Built from cotton wood this piece stands 4' tall x 12" wide x 12" deep.  This piece has not been sold but is for sale. 

 

One day in the summer of 2006 my friend Gabe Lueders and I visited a winding part of the Raccoon River down by Van Meter, IA.  On this trip were had big plans to make sculpture and drawings out in the natural setting.  The only thing unnatural about it was that I brought a few power tools including drills and chainsaw. 

 

When we started to play with ideas of what to build, Gabe had the idea to build a water wheel from little driftwood sticks.  The drill helped out tremendously with that mission, which was completed and was fantastic to watch. On the other hand, I spotted a fallen piece of cotton wood that cried out to me, "Make me into a leopard." So I did and this is the resulting piece.

 

The interesting pattern was creating by using a template and propane torch to burn the detail into the surface, then it was sealed with a polyurethane.  This piece has not sold.  Please contact me if you have any questions regarding this piece.