Your Questions Answered

What about bugs in the wood?

The sculptures are frozen for 3 to 5 days at -25°C to kill any bugs or eggs  that may still be in the wood. Whenever I send an artwork overseas, it needs to be fumigated in order to get a customs certificate. If local clients want to have this extra precaution, it can be arrange at the clients expense. Most of the wood I collect is very old, dry and no longer of interest to the insects.

The termites vacate the driftwood as soon as it is dry to seek shelter underground. Further more I wire brush and sand any debris off the wood.

Treating the Driftwood

Each piece of wood is sanded and glued, screwed and in some cases wired in place. All the screws are hidden and the completed sculpture is given a wash. This further protects and gives the final art piece a uniformed weathered finish. Sculptures are also treated with a matt sealer where necessary to penetrate and preserve the wood. The sculptures are not made for the outdoors. If this is required the sculpture can be built and treated to better withstand the elements but is not recommended. Kept indoors the sculptures can last indefinitely.

The oldest wooden furniture around is a Roman chair that is dated at 1900 years and some of the driftwood wood I find in the open is already over 100 years old.   Artwork is an investment, I have had one of my first Rhino sculptures resold three times with the price increasing by 500% in three years.