IDEA: I knew I wanted to do something big. A few hours later the concept came to me. I was going to build a GIANT wooden elephant. I also knew that I was going to need a lot of wood to make it happen. It should also be noted that I have never sculpted anything before so it totally makes sense for me to try and sculpt a 4ft giant 3D elephant.

MATERIALS:

Free pallets from an auto dealership.
Scrap 2x4 pieces from a construction site dumpster.

MATERIAL PREP: I then spent the next day removing all the nails and squaring off all the pallet wood. It was at this point I realized I didn't have enough. I then drove to a few construction sites. No, no, and no. I kept getting turned away. There was one more to try and this time I had a plan. I decided to beg, tell some jokes and make them laugh. Success they let me pull out scrap pieces of 2x4's from the dumpster.

Now that I had enough wood I need to square up all the construction wood and remove any nails.

It's now day four. Wait a minute I totally planned on this project being completed in three days. Typical for me! Anyways on day four I needed to plain the width and height of all the pieces to be similar. This would make the glue up much easier and faster. This took a whole day.

CONSTRUCTION: Day five and it's time to start laying out the outline for the giant elephant sculpture. My thought process was to hand draw a 3D side profile then build up the sides and make it the rough 3D shape. I didn't want a photo real elephant but not a cartoon one either, something in the middle.

Once the basic side profile was drawn I began glueing all the wood pieces together. I started making the middle line of the elephants body and building up one side. Then I flipped it over and built up the other side. This took about three days and I used over a gallon of wood glue.

SCULPTING: Did I mention I never did this before? After having a neighbor help me move the now 140lb ish elephant outside I figured a chain saw would be my first step. I used it to round off the corners. Only a few cuts, took 15 minutes. Then I used my Bosch angle grinder with special wood carving disk that I purchased on Amazon for $20. They worked great and make sculpting the elephant easier than I anticipated. I worked on this all day and then late into the night using a headlamp. There was a huge cloud of sawdust flowing from my yard. I stopped a few times only to find neighbors and the contractors working on a nearby house standing behind me watching me work.

Next was to completely sand the entire piece. So, so much sanding.

PAINTING: Off to find another neighbor to help me move it back inside. I had to move the elephant in and out multiple times. Almost every neighbor on my street can now tell you how heavy it is. Oh yeah - painting.

First I mixed the chalked white paint 50/50 with water and then rubbed it into the wood. I wanted a white wash finish so you could still see all the small pieces of wood.

Next I masked off everything and began painting the ears and the tusk. I used spray paint and would use a hair dryer in between coats to speed up the drying process. I had a lot of colors and it was getting dark. I had a giant fan blowing on the piece in between spraying. This helped it dry faster and keep tiny bugs from laning in the wet paint. This took me until almost midnight and I still need to bring it inside. I have nice neighbors thankfully.

THE MESSAGE: I knew I wanted this piece to be a statement piece. I like a lot of other artist have been well different. I'm strange and quirky, I know that. This caused me a lot of issues growing up and I'm sure a good chunk of my fellow creatives here can relate to. It wasn't until college that I had any real contact with the art community. This community was largely LGBTQ. Did this community of artist and LGBTQ folks treat me as the odd outcast. NO, no they didn't! This was the first time I really felt accepted for who I was. Nobody cared if I was eccentric. All I ever received was love from this community. So when I see them today being attacked it breaks my heart. I thought we were past this!

The elephant - take the symbol of the opposition and own it.
The progress flags colors - All individuals regardless of race or sexuality are equal.
Fight - As Sinead O'Connor said in controversy "Fight, we find it necessary, we will be victorious"
You are NOT alone - My wife and I have written hundreds of LGBTQ activist names from all around the world on the sculpture. I want those who see the piece to realize people all around the world are with them. (We're still adding names)
All the blocks - I intentionally left it whitewashed to show all the small pieces of wood that when joined together can become a symbol of strength.

DID I FINISH? - I still have to add a tail, add a lot more names and then clear the entire piece with clear satin spray paint.

To the Creator Studio community - Thanks for having me :) - Zach Settewongse

PS. A full build video will be coming shortly.

You are NOT alone!