Saturday 19 December 2015

Munn Originals to showcase art at Holiday Creative Fair

Hosted by Marie Piazza's I Am Ready World, the Holiday Creative Fair will feature a wide range of handcrafted items from local artists, including Bill Munn of Munn Originals. Bill will be showcasing his carvings, including faces, marine life, earrings and more!

The fair runs this Sunday, Dec. 20, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Sportivo Centre in Rodney Heights, St. Lucia. Click here for more.

Monday 2 November 2015

Portrait of Peter Tosh

SL59 "Wanted" Portrait of Peter Tosh, 12" x 18" Life size, mahogany

Wednesday 23 September 2015

Munn Originals donates work to SLAPS auction

I'm very happy to be donating two pieces of my recent work to the St. Lucia Animal Protection Society (SLAPS) for an auction/raffle at a fundraiser/quiz night on September 25th. All proceeds from the event are for the society's spay/neuter program.
Here are the two pieces: 
Rasta Portrait (SL53), mahogany, 8" x 12"
Buddha Air Plant, mahogany, approximately 9" x 14"
The air plants are a fun new project of mine, and one of my wife's favourites. After a few weeks, the plant's roots will attach to the wood and you can cut off the string.

For more information on the SLAPS fundraiser this Friday, see below: 

Thursday 17 September 2015

Progression of Tiger Shark Sculpture

See how this 10-inch mahogany tiger shark (each of my shark sculptures are species-specific) goes from raw hunk of wood to finished sculpture.
-Bill







Monday 31 August 2015

The manta tail tree


Found a large part of a Casaurina equisetifolia tree that was blown down in a storm. I got there in time to get some small branches that I prefer to use for mantaray tails because they bend quite a bit before they break. My daughters have always known this type of tree as "the manta tail tree." –Bill

Monday 10 August 2015

Flashin' Dreads Progress: Part 5



 

Above, you can see the finished piece sanded and waiting to be oiled. Below, look at how the oil enhances the natural colour and grain of the white cedar!



Sideview of Flashin' Dreads mounted on the wall. At the bottom, there are dowels to ensure the piece hangs straight. 

Each Munn Original is signed and numbered by the artist. 

Friday 7 August 2015

Flashin' Dreads Progress: Part 4



He wakes up!

There's just some final tweaking to be done on the facial expression.



Tuesday 4 August 2015

Flashin' Dreads Progress: Part 3



Here are more progress photos following the piece Flashin' Dreads.




"This happened to show me I need to pay closer attention!" says Bill.
A coarse carving burr at 35,000 RPM can quickly do some damage!


Using the rule of thirds, Bill has drawn a guide to detail the face.

Getting ready to open the eyes!


Monday 3 August 2015

Glitch fixed!

Hi everybody, if you recently sent an email through our website's contact form, we unfortunately did not receive it. We had a glitch but it has been fixed! Please feel free to use our contact form now or contact us directly via munnoriginals@gmail.com or through our social media channels (listed below). We apologize for the inconvenience and look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your patience and support! We appreciate you!

Sunday 2 August 2015

Connect with Munn Originals on social media

Hi everybody, Sarah Munn here! I write this blog on my dad, Bill's, behalf. He's the Munn behind Munn Originals, and the sculptor who creates all these beautiful pieces.
We'd love for you to connect with us on social media and would really appreciate your support in sharing Bill's work with anyone who has a tie to galleries or others in the art/sculpture world or anyone who might be interested in buying a piece.

We'd love to see you on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+.

Thanks for your time!


Friday 31 July 2015

Flashin' Dreads Progress: Part 2


With this piece, Bill wanted to show movement in the hair. He pictured a man with dreadlocks shaking his head, to make the locks fly – or as it's known in Jamaica, "flashin' dreads."


More definition of some individual locks now.


Starting to cut all the way through the wood in places to show more definition of the dreadlocks. 

Friday 26 June 2015

Flashin' Dreads Progress: Part 1



A new face begins with a pencil-drawn outline...


Slowly but surely Bill figures out the face placement to suit the shape, grain and texture of the wood.


With each cut, a little more progress...

Thursday 25 June 2015

Queen: Part 6


Here she is! Tung-oil finish and wall-mounted with countersunk stainless steel eye screws and 480-lb. stainless steel cable.



The happy couple! Here's Queen with her King. They're available as a pair for $4,500 (U.S.).

Sunday 21 June 2015

Queen: Part 5


Last time you saw Queen, this is what she looked like. Bill wasn't feeling quite right about her yet and felt there was still some fine-tuning to be done. So...



... here she is now! She's had a bit of a spa day – face lift and hair cut. Bill thinks the top of her head looks better now and the cheeks appear softer. It's amazing what a difference in colour and grain sharpness the Tung oil makes, isn't it? 

Tuesday 16 June 2015

Queen: Part 4


Here's Queen with a Tung-oil finish. She looks complete, but Bill thinks the face needs to be rounded and is still wondering about the top of her head. Maybe she has too much hair. There's still some work left to do.

Thursday 11 June 2015

Queen: Part 3


Queen wakes up! And what beautiful eyes. Bill is starting to work on the details of her dreadlocks. 


Now in this photo you can see there's more detail on her hair and he has been fine-tuning the face. He's wondering about that bump on top of her head, though.

Wednesday 10 June 2015

Portrait of Buddha: Part 6


Here's the Buddha portrait, sanded and mounted, now ready for oiling!


Oiling with "lint-free cloth" – really?! There's almost enough here to make a pair of socks! Gotta wonder if lint-free cloth expires...

Tuesday 9 June 2015

Queen: Part 2


Queen's face begins to take shape. Bill is using the rule of thirds as a guide.

Monday 8 June 2015

Portrait of Buddha: Part 5


Here's another update on the Buddha portrait. Nose and mouth are taking shape. Bill says the domes above the ear and brow are a challenge! The grooves in the ear require a gentle touch. Bill says, "If I can see it done in my mind, it will happen in the wood."

Sunday 7 June 2015

King Part 5: A portrait in progress


Here's a profile shot of Bill's recently completed wood portrait, entitled King.

Saturday 6 June 2015

King Part 4: A portrait in progress



The King piece has come to an end. After completing the sanding, Bill finishes it with tung oil. The piece is wall-mounted with countersunk stainless steel eye screws and 480-lb stainless steel cable. Bill says he's very pleased with this piece. Feel free to email him with any questions!

Portrait of Buddha: Part 4


Bill's almost there on the Buddha portrait! He says his next step is to fine-tune the details and start the lengthy process of sanding through various grits – 100, 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 00 steel wool, 0000 steel wool. Sanding the tight spots by hand takes the most time but a fully loaded iPod on random play at maximum volume is very helpful!


Friday 29 May 2015

Portrait of Buddha: Part 3



The Buddha portrait is coming along nicely. For a one-inch-thick board, it's looking quite three-dimensional. Bill says he's not really a relief carver but this is working out well. He doesn't need the grid now and is just checking proportions with a ruler.


Wednesday 27 May 2015

Portrait of Buddha: Part 2


Here's the first roughing out of this Buddha portrait. Bill decided to echo the line on the side of the face. He redrew the grid lines and says, "So far so good!"

Sunday 24 May 2015

Queen Part 1: A portrait from start to finish

You may have seen in earlier posts on this blog a wood portrait called King. In some photos, he's pictured with his mate, Queen. Here's how she came to be:

Day 1:


She's 10" x 16" x 4" thick on white cedar. Here's what she looks like after the initial roughing out. Only the tip of her nose remains at the original surface level, so as you can see, lots of stock has been removed just to get to this point.

Saturday 23 May 2015

Portrait of Buddha: Part 1

Bill has started with a rough sketch of the face on this piece of white cedar (14" x 12" x 1" thick). He's using a grid to maintain proportions and will try to keep redrawing the grid lines as they get cut away.



King Part 3: A portrait in progress


King, left, has been fine-tuned even more. Bill has shortened the lower part of the dreadlocks to match the Queen, on the right.

Stay tuned for more photo updates on this piece!

Monday 18 May 2015

King Part 2: A portrait in progress

Continuing from where we left off in the last post, here's some more progress on Bill's wood portrait of a West Indian face.


Here, the lips, nose and eyes begin to take shape.

He opens his eyes! (This is Bill's favourite part!)

In this shot, Bill has been fine-tuning the hair, beard and eyebrows.

Stay tuned for more progress on this piece!