Lion of Courage

Lion of Courage was created for a cause that made this piece about much more than the finished artwork.

Created as part of a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, this 22-inch square piece was designed as a celebration of strength, courage, and resilience. Through its bold colours and powerful subject, the lion became a fitting symbol for the children and families at the heart of the fundraiser.

I wanted this piece to have an almost painted quality while still being unmistakably made from wood. The result was a colourful, highly dimensional scroll saw artwork built from 307 individual pieces.

Each piece was cut on my scroll saw before being individually shaped and sanded. I used a Dremel with Kutzall carving bits to sculpt the MDF components, then hand-sanded every one of the 307 pieces with a MicroZip to smooth the surfaces and prepare them for paint.

The lion was finished using approximately 12 different colours of spray paint, with additional shading and colour transitions created using spray-paint techniques. Rather than simply giving each piece a flat colour, I used the paint to build depth and dimension throughout the lion, allowing the individual pieces to work together as one image.

The finished artwork measures just over 22 inches square and contains hundreds of individually cut, shaped, sanded, and painted components.

Most importantly, Lion of Courage helped raise approximately $1,200 for St. Jude, giving all those hours at the scroll saw a purpose far beyond the workshop.

For me, that's what made this piece special. It wasn't just about making something technically challenging. It was about using the skills I've spent years developing to create something that could give back.