Mum and her chicks huddle together. Her head is raised, she is constantly watching out for danger even though her babies are getting quite big.
Royal made his name internationally with his lovely sculptures of quails. He achieves the stippling effect for the feathers using a chasing hammer, which has little teeth, and striking the stone with perfect precision over and over, almost like sculpture pointillism.
The contrasting finish of the eyes and beaks is achieved by sanding the stone smooth and then applying clear wax.
Springstone is the local name for a hard variety of serpentine stone. It is dense and durable, with small grains, and rarely has any imperfections, making it a superb sculpture medium.
