British artist T.A.G. Smith carves amazingly realistic sculptures of birds and feathers out of wood. He blends different types and colors of wood to reproduce the real contrast of their coloration.
T.A.G. (aka Tom) Smith combines his two great loves – wood and wildlife – by using an ancient technique known as intarsia to create wall hanging sculptures of birds and feathers. Intarsia is similar to marquetry in that it uses different coloured timbers to create an image. Intarsia uses much thicker bits of wood than marquetry so they can be carved to make them look more three-dimensional. By raising and lowering certain areas more depth can be added to the sculpture. Each piece of the sculptures is individually hand cut, carved, sanded and polished. Then the pieces are fitted together like a jigsaw and glued together. Tom uses the natural colours of different timbers, from native species to the UK like sycamore and oak, to exotic species such as wenge and padauk. Commissions make up the majority of his work.
T.A.G. Smith
More info: Website, Facebook, Instagram.
