Pepper, the swan gander

ABOVE:
1. 30 min in, roughing it out.
2. 1 hour in: starting to carve it out
3. 1.5 hr in: I cut off wings to more fully develop them on a separate surface board.
4. 2 hr in, I add the wings back to carve the feathers in.
5. About 90% after approx. 15 hours

Creature Comforts, group show of artists' pets in March 2025

People are always asking, 'How long did it take?' And well thats not an easy question a maker will reply. Are you including the 30 years of practice? The constant will to go on in art? If it takes me 30 min to make something because I am good at it, does it have less value. Well as you can see this question is not very accurate.
Above I have added some blips on how long each beginner step took...
Pepper the Swan goose will be showing at Childhood's End Gallery in March of 2025. He is one of my 4 geese residing on Mystic Glen studio and farm.
Swan geese tend to be a smaller goose, with a loud call and an upturned tail. They are often compared to swans due to their long necks and a pronounced knob on their bill.
Pepper is the only goose of my gaggle who seems to like being petted and held. He also likes to bite, thus the name 'Pepper'. I hope to breed him this year to his mate, popcorn, my Pomeranian goose. 
UPDATE: OOPS! I suck at sexing geese. Popcorn did indeed mate with my other geese, but three revealed themselves to be ganders....and well it was like teenage geese on the rampage.

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