The Swan is a representation of a Mute Swan but it is inspired by some of its Folk Art / Decoy ancestors as much as by the real thing. Like a lot of my birds, it also has references to a boat. The body of the swan is built with ’strakes’ like a boat and has a keel / rudder. The ‘upturned boat' is also another reference. In Shetland when a wooden boat has finished its seaworthy life it is often repurposed as a roof for a henhouse or such like, I do actually know someone who has a (quite large) old boat as a roof on their dwelling house. Making bird sculpture this way has been a bit of a theme for me for a while. The body is largely Redwood and the neck is Western Red Cedar. Glass taxidermy eyes.