Heron progress, mystery sculpture progresses and spring arrives early

I am continuing work on the heron's tail feathers. I have completed the feathers all the way around but then I realized that the herons left side was not full enough so I will have beef up that side a little. Which means redoing some of the feathers on the his left side. Ah well...

I have been working on the herons toes as well, making them a little fuller, refining the form and adding a subtle texture. I then realized I had the middle herons toe too short, so I cut it and added some clay to lengthen it.

I make a subtle texture over areas of the heron's body as I finish each section. Beginning on the right side, I use a wood carving knife and lightly sweep it in a curve over the surface. The blade edge has been damaged and as a result leaves many subtle lines across the herons back.

I try varying numbers of greenery. I am keeping them to one side so that his legs are easily seen. The original model upon which this sculpture is based had a huge clump of vegetation and the bird almost disappeared.

I like this one the best. The angle of the plants work well against the angle of the heron's back.

This is alright, maybe if the blade to the far right was bending more to the left it would be better...

This is a thin section of clay that will be the long feathers that grace the heron's back and throat.

The mystery sculpture continues... any guesses?

We didn't have much of a winter, but it's nice to see daffodils again.