Fireplace Mantel Sculpture with Elk Antler

Well, there's a first time for everything! A dear friend of mine emailed me back in November asking if I might be willing to take on a bit of a unique project for her as a surprise for her husband and a feature in their mountain house.  Her husband is a big hunter - pheasant, turkey, deer, elk, etc - and had created a candelabra for their fireplace mantel using a large, beautiful elk antler.  My client wanted me to take it up a notch and so she send me the antler candelabra along with some feathers  and wasp nests they had collected over the years. Her request: make something beautiful!  The result is a very unique, collaborative fireplace mantel sculpture using my normal materials - mountain laurel branches, copper leaves, vines and bark - along with the non-traditional materials of the elk antler and feathers.  

SHH! This one is going to be a surprise for Christmas! I can't wait to hear the reaction to the new piece once her husband sees it! #fingerscrossed