The Silky History
The Silky Project
by the sculptor Keith Gall
​Hi, Keith here! Let me tell you a little or maybe a lot (Lol) about myself and Silky.
​I was a sign-writer, and still am, but when computers came out, it was no fun using stick- on signs. So I started hand carving wood signs. That took me to America, to study beautiful wood signs. Whilst in Monterey, California, I watched guys carving Bears, Indians, and Mermaids. i carved a few little bears myself and started to learn the art of 3 dimentional sculpture.
The evolution of Silky.....
Let's go back a bit in time to...Mary Valley, Queensland, where I used to milk the cows for Bevan the farmer. Bevan gave me a big Silky Oak tree stump, He had the tree cut down and some furniture was made from the big trunks and he gave me the stump that was left in the ground. My mate Geoff and I went there to cut slabs from the trunk with the intention of making tabletops with big chainsaws, but the chain kept coming off....so we went to the pub instead. I covered the stump with corrugated iron and went off to America. Whilst learning the carving process, I was thinking about what I could do with the Silky- Oak stump back in Oz.
Continued.......
I had been doing 2 dimensional signs and artwork, but the 3D artwork involved 'Blocking out', or reducing the wood to workable size blocks, cutting off the bits you don't want, shaping the bits that are left and carving the details.
I did some Bears and Beavers, Coyotes and Squirrels, whilst in America and by time I was ready to come back home I was homesick for Aussie animals, so I decided to do a chainsaw sculpture of 12 Australian animals out of the Silky stump back to the valley.
Aussie Wildlife Carving
At the top of the tree, there a Kookaburra. A mother Koala with her baby on her back is also present. Three finches perch on a delicate branch. Further down, I carved a Ring-tail Possum, a small Goanna, and a few Lizards. A Cockatoo and another Possum peer out from the tree hollow. the base of the statue, I had enough wood to carve a how Dingo beside a Pelican, Platypus, an Echidna, and a Wombat. The Crocodile's tail re-emerges from the 'tree,' and I incorporated two seats from the remaining wood.
I brought 3 chainsaws, made a few drawings, and set about carving the stump. I 'blocked out' the Kangaroo facing the east, and with the Emu, where there was strong knotting wood for the Emu's head as it turns to look down at the Crocodile below.
I decided to carve a tree within the remaining wood and animals on the branches of the new 'Tree'. That was very challenging to do
Progression of Silky
I worked for 4 days on the farm until it was mostly 'block out' and the overall weight was reduced a lot. Then I hired a backhoe to dig the stump out.
I spent another day washing off dirt and trimming the roots.
I heard the upcoming Woodford Folk Festival was looking for art instillations to go on site from boxing day to New Year's Day 1999 -2000.
I got in touch with those folks; I was excepted and organized a Crane truck to move the half-finished statue up to Woodford.
We got the truck bogged in the paddock and had to get the Neighbours tractor to save the day, Thanks Ken!
We made it to the site three days before the festival started. Bruce the truck driver, estimated the weight of the stump to be about 1.5 tons.
​
I continued with the carving, fine tuning most of the animals and making some new ones, as well as the 2 seats. It was a popular exhibit, and I was really happy with the Sculpture and what a fun festival! It was.