Steve Ettlinger

  

Location: 406 9th Street
Website:
 steveettlinger.com
Instagram: @steveslogs

 

 

 I’ve always loved abstract modern sculpture, especially that of the great Constantin Brancusi, who is (obviously) my inspiration and model.

 I spend a lot of time in Maine and get spruce and cedar logs from forester neighbors and from friends.

 I constantly make sketches that I scale up to log size. All are long and narrow. I’m into rapid material removal, so I love starting with a chain saw and then moving on to a grinder and Sawzall, ending with lots and lots of sanding and then some kind of finish, usually a version of Tung oil.

 The rougher, simple, angular shapes—my natural tendency--are made from spruce logs, while the smoothly finished pieces that feature beautiful grain are of Eastern White Cedar. Some smaller items are cut from old building beams in Brooklyn, New York.

 I work primarily in my back yard in Stonington, Maine, on Deer Isle, but also in a cooperative woodworking shop in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, and a little bit in my nearby home.

 Commissions are welcome, including on your own site (such as using a beloved old, standing dead tree or a recently fallen one).