The Found Eagle

The Found Eagle came from a small piece of boxwood in which I found a soul. I felt the urge to carve a cameo-style relief, and so I went through my drawers of wood pieces and picked this piece. I had no reference, no fixed design and no proper plan. Yet I saw an eagle, or the beginning of one, in one of the darker markings in the wood, and I let that guide me.

Rather than deciding everything in advance, I followed what the material appeared to suggest. The bird developed through looking, drawing and carving, becoming a piece that felt discovered as much as made. Around the edge, I carved the sentence, ‘I found a bird in the wood’, alongside my initials and the year. It felt like the simplest and most honest way to describe what had happened.

The finished work is a carved boxwood token, or pocket sculpture. It can stand, lie flat, or be held in the hand. That handling is important because the piece is not only meant to be looked at. It is meant to be picked up, turned over, felt, and found again through the surface. Smooth wood, carved lines, raised levels, uneven areas and tool marks all become part of its character. For me, The Found Eagle is about noticing, responding, and allowing the material to reveal its soul.