A carving of a Civil War artillery officer with a cannon mounted on a butternut base with four carved plaques on the side panels of the base depicting significant benchmarks of employment career became a retirement gift.  The carved soldier holding binoculars standing beside a cannon were symbolic of retirement from the military with a carved plaque showing the Army logo as the recipient’s first career.  The remaining bank logo plaques depict the three banks served during the second career of the retiree.

The next five photos show panoramic views of the presentation carving.

The next series of photos are of the beginning stage of opening up a six-inch-tall by two-inch square block of basswood for the soldier.  The first five photos show the first stage of carving the kepi cap and head for the basic foundation with the remaining portion of the block marked out with guidelines.

The next photos show the progressive shaping of entire figure to provide sufficient foundations for carving the details of the artillery officer as pictured in the painted photo of the completed carving.

The cannon was carved in pieces beginning with the wheels and then carving appropriate sections of the cannon to be assembled together to create a simulation of a cannon. This simulated assemblage along with imagination gives the suggestion of a cannon with no attempt for an accurate copy of the real thing.  The several photos give an all-around visual depiction of the appearance of a cannon.

The base measures nine inches by twelve inches with the four top corner edges sliced to make room for the four carve plaques on the sides and for recipient’s name and acronym of personal usage carved into the front and back. The four carved plaques were painted with acrylic paints and applied to the side edge of the base with glue and brass brads. The cannon was attached to the top of the base with glue and brass brads at the wheels and tongue of cannon. The cannon was painted with acrylic paint. The soldier was attached with screws from the bottom of the base into the heels of the shoes along with glue. The soldier was colored with artist oil paint thinned with boiled linseed oil. The entire project received an application of DEFT, a brushing lacquer as its final coat of finish.

The choice of using a Civil War artillery soldier and cannon was meant to be a symbolic representation for artistic purposes rather that being contemporary military personnel and equipment.  The ARMY and banks’ logos on the plaques were chosen also to be symbolic and have personal meaning to the recipient.  Symbols mixed with imagination lead to memories that remind the recipient of a life well lived of service and loyalty. Therein is the appreciation.