Stumps & Knots - In Fine Craft Birdhouse Creations - Vernon Abernethy Structures in Art

The photos below and the slide show above represent some of my all time favorites. Most of these have been sold; however, I keep this gallery as models to create new similar pieces. I can come close, but no two pieces are ever the same.

"THE SLEEPING GNOME"

"FLIGHT"

"MOTION"

"Motion In A Forest":
Another example of stump art is this piece that I call "Motion". Again, I wanted to see if I could inspire one's imagination to see wings in flight. The front is fashioned from oak, and the top boarders are pine.

The best conceptual appearance of motion can be seen from the view of the right side of the birdhouse. A close-up examination of the front reflects a continuation of changing elements. I wanted the critical examination of the piece to reveal from the top down a change in the appearance of natural wood grain, then to feathers, then to fur or hair. The top has been "captured" by a natural pine cone forest. At the apex of the top front one can imagine a pine cone holding the element of the "wing" in place. Yet still, the piece renders the sensation of moving, energy, or motion created by a wing in rapid flight. (CLICK on the photo to enlarge the image.)

Motion while standing still...

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The pine cone covered roof seems to be holding the wing in motion in its place...

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"THE PINE THAT NEVER GAVE UP":

I liked this pine knot so much because it apparently kept on regenerating itself. I liked the idea of that! I noticed there was a small limb that tried to grow from the center of the wounded area of the tree. It was obviously living until the pine tree eventually fell. The pine was an intractable little tree to say the least. I discovered the pine knot on a tree that had fallen after a 1989 hurricane swept through our wooded lot. We lost 20-plus hardwood trees that year. The discovery of this little pine knot and stubborn limb looked like an excellent candidate for a birdhouse front, complete with a natural landing perch for a songbird.
The top of this birdhouse has been fashioned from the bark near the stump of the poplar tree that fell across the pine tree during the hurricane that year. I merely re-arranged the pieces of the trees to form an elegant little pine cone cottage any back yard, patio, or sun porch would find to be an attractive addition. My wife thinks this front looks like a bearded old man with a pipe. However, to me it looked like a force of nature that just would not give up!

MELANCHOLY OF HEARTS REMEMBERED:

This birdhouse was designed to represent the work of "The Sisters of Mercy" in our town Belmont, NC.

Melancholy of Hearts Remembered
A breaking heart
A broken heart
A heart that's all in pieces.
A shattered heart that left the Vine
And all the Maker teaches.

A somber sense of solitude with stealth invades my heart
As melancholy feels my mind of lives so torn apart.
And then I am distracted by the cherubs in our town
Who through the mercy of God's heart, a fuller life they've found!

A happy heart
A joyful heart
A mending of the pieces.
A shattered heart back on the Vine
Where now the Maker teaches.

-jva-2013

PHOTO GALLERY: Click to enlarge:

While the top shows an artist logo concept used by the Sisters of Mercy outreach called "Holy Angels"...

The base and support of the piece represent how a clinging vine gathers and mends broken and breaking hearts.

"MY HEART IS IN THE VINYARD":

"My Heart Is In The Vineyard" is a departure from the pine cone wrapped pieces to one covered in plastic bottle pieces I cut with a circular die. This piece is sometimes used by food stores or Deli type restaurants as center pieces in their wine section. The chimney brick came from a 19th Century Victorian house that was destroyed several years past. The birdhouse has been mounted on a wine bottle that stands on a pine cone wrapped platform and flanked by pieces of a dogwood stump. The bird house hole is shaped in the form of a heart. The top can be lifted off for easy access into the nesting area.
"My Heart..." makes a beautiful centerpiece for a lawn party, and is available for sale, or rent. I rent my work locally at 10% of the piece sale price. This piece is available for $575 and rents for $57.50 per event. The bird house without the stand is $475.
This piece has become one of my most favored designs. While it is a very functional home for your song birds, I have found it to be a very versatile centerpiece for businesses.

(CLICK on the photos to enlarge the images.)

"A FEATHER IN A WILD CHERRY ROOT"

This birdhouse has been fashioned around a wild cherry root that I discovered in the wooded area close by. Twisting through the natural complex of underground roots of this wild cherry tree, a cavity had developed that took very little imagination to see familiar characteristics of a feather design. Further examination and cleaning of the root wood revealed other inherent feather attributes elsewhere. I placed an entry hole at a natural bend in the most predominant "feather" and carved in the vanes and feather shaft up to the quill. Other smaller features were brought out elsewhere to illustrate how closely nature was beginning to simulate its own plumage clusters. To maintain acceptable prorportions for a song bird nesting area, the entry required an off-center position that added to the uniqueness of the final piece. At the apex of the root front I polished a section of the wood that shows the beauty of finely crafted cherry. I wrapped the piece with pine cone parts. This piece is a rare beauty. It would make an excellent accent piece for a den or sun porch.

(CLICK on the photos to enlarge the images.)