The first photograph is of a Wolf's head painted on a piece of Oak. I acquired the wood from a reclamation yard for a quid. "The Wolf is revered by the North West Coastal Indians because it is a good hunter and it is often associated with the special spirit power a man had to acquire to become a successful hunter".
My Brother reckons the Wolf looks like Muttley, the canine companion of that Dastardly Dick Dastardly from Wacky Races.
The second photograph is of an Otter painted onto a reclaimed bench that I liberated from the tip. Cost = £0 excluding paint. It's amazing what people throw away (including me, I'm sorry to say).
"As the legendary Transformer journeyed about, transforming people into creatures of the animal world, word of his coming preceded him. When he came upon a man sharpening a spear for the purpose of killing him, the Transformer took the spear, attached it to the man's rear like a long pointed tail, and turned him into an Otter".
I can think of a worse fate than having the spear simply attached to my rear but that would probably spoil the innocence of a simple fable.
The final photograph is of the mythological Thunderbird which is painted onto a triple layered piece of plywood which I made into a small garden table.
"To the West Coast people, this great bird living high in the mountains, was the most powerful of all the spirits - the personification of "Chief". Only the most powerful and prestigious of chiefs has Thunderbird as a crest.
When Thunderbird was hungry he ate whales. On the West Coast, he grasped the two Lightning Snakes which lived under his wings and threw them down onto a surfacing whale. The snakes, striking with their lightning tongues, killed the sea mammal; then Thunderbird swooped down, picked it up in his strong talons and flew with it to the mountains, there to devour it.
The Lightning Snake has the head of a Wolf , an animal also revered for its hunting prowess".
