Further Improves on the Turtle Island

I started this project off by cutting up the 4x4 I bought at Lowe's. I cut the 4x4 into... 

• five pieces of 4 inches by 4 inches
• four pieces of 4 inches by 2 inches
• as for the uncut piece, I'll probably cut them into small fragments to make trees which will be discussed further into this blog

I did this to separate the body parts of the turtle I plan to create into three quadrants, which would be more practical to create than to make the whole turtle out of the 4x4, uncut.

In this picture, I arranged the pieces into what I imagined I would be crafting. The head and body will consist of the 4x4 because it is the more bulky section of the turtle, while the appendages will be crafted from the 4x2 because they are more narrow and easily manipulated. I plan to use the sander machine to get the smooth edges and rounded corners to create the organic, robust feel of the animal. In contrast, I'll also use a regular sand paper to create defined shapes and curves as well as texture to get the more authentic or realistic turtle look. I think I'll probably have to do some lamination and use wood glue to connect all the pieces together - especially the appendages to the body (maybe use a socket to secure it).

I created another model of what I want my finished project to look like out of Play-Doh (again, haha). The red symbolizes the wooden body of the turtle. It's meant to be the more organic portion of the piece and to tie in the themes of the turtle being an iconic figure for growth, stability, and balance, I'll incorporate trees into the turtle that will sprout from its midsection - creating a fluid symbiosis-feel. 

Conversely, I will also use metal sheets for this project (the purple Play-Doh). This portion will be the framework of the piece and symbolizes the uniform, geometric lines that will balance with the organic portion. The two portions are meant to balance each other out not only through the concepts (organic v.s rigidity), but also through materials (wood v.s metal) - which fulfills the unifying concept that the turtle balanced not only conceptually by physically as well.