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All of the wood used in these sculptures is indigenous to The Czech Republic. None of the trees were cut in order to create this work. Many of the trees were diseased, wormy, rotten or being removed for reasons of safety. Some of the fruit trees were old and had stopped bearing and were being replaced by new growth. Most of the material came from friends or their referees. Wood is never permanently stable. All changes in humidity will cause a piece of wood to expand or contract and this process may cause the piece of wood to crack. Boards are normally thin enough to restabilize but large sections of logs may not be able to and then they will crack. Of course some woods, walnut, birch and ash are more stable than the fruit woods. All of the sculpture in this collection has stabilized to a Prague indoor environment, which is comparable to conditions in the American mid-west; Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Illinois etc. Cracks, which have already occurred, have been filled or left depending on the aesthetics of the individual piece. Buyers must be willing to accept that the work they buy may crack or in moist climates the filler material may extrude a bit. Generally the wood is finished with a natural oil finish which will require only a light buffing with a soft, fuzzy, old sock from time to time and an occasional waxing. For wax I normally use KIWI shoe polish, color tan. It is top quality, easy to find and easy to apply.
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