Deer Fern

This is one of my new series of assemblage pieces utilizing organic and recycled materials. More info available at www.thegreenwolf.com/artwork

New or reclaimed from industry materials: Acrylic paint, colored pencils, deer skull

Secondhand/recycled/found materials: Wood frame, faux ferns, paper, wood stain

There is a particular fern, Blechnum spicant, which is commonly known as the deer fern. In this assemblage piece, I decided to take that name a little more literally!

The base is a vintage wooden plaque, painted with dark brown stain, that used to hold a pair of deer antlers. Rather than cover up the unstained portion in the center where the skullcap once was, I simply gave the entire piece a coat of natural wood stain (obtained secondhand from a local art supply salvage store). I further decorated it with cuttings from an old, out of date textbook on plant biology, using part of a page discussing the evolution of ferns. I etched the wood around the paper a bit, and decorated the pieces with colored pencils and acrylic paint. I then mounted a partial deer skull left over from another project of mine on the plaque, with faux ferns tucked beneath its edges. Two more of these ferns were planted in the skull where the antler was cut off.

Price: $80

On Etsy: www.etsy.com/listing/190895819…