A dear friend's family reached out to me and asked if I could make him a barn owl sculpture as a surprise graduation gift. These are my favorite requests as it felt very special to be able to create something with someone I love in mind!

After talking with her for a while she asked about an owl as they used to listen for them when he was a child. I got excited at this idea because I had been wanting to create more birds but also I had specifically wanted to make a metal barn owl. When I suggested it she was immediately in!

This piece was very challenging! Not only because of the detailed talons and patterns on the wings but mostly because the head had to be completed fully in the round. Luckily barn owls are mostly white and gold which gave me far more freedom with shaping as I didn't need to worry about coloring after shaping. Normally I do all my coloring first since it is done using heat and then I cold shape the piece. But this was far too complex to cold shape. Also I had to weld a lot around the face to make it look right which normally would add thickness, meaning the coloring would differ as the thicker parts heat at a different rate than the rest. Getting the cone of the face to look right was the biggest challenge, with getting the front chest plate to look right with the feathers and hiding seams as a close second. But once this owl sculpture all came together I was very happy with the final product!

This metal owl sculpture is wall hanging, made entirely of stainless steel, colored using only heat patinas, and is safe to be kept outdoors!