Ice Char

This is a stylized Ice Char, a trout-like fish found in waters far above the Arctic Circle.  It spends summers in the ocean and winters in frozen lakes.  It was carved as a memento to a trip taken to Cambridge Bay, a community on Victoria Island, one of the fabled Arctic islands along the Northwest Passage discovered by Roald Amundson in the early 20^th Century.  In late August, the Char were returning by the thousands up a local river to their wintering grounds.  Their silvery bodies glimmered from every ripple of the stream and their fins nearly covered its surface.  I chose the stone because its surface polishes to a shine similar to the reflection of the Char in the sunlight and because it lends itself to the sharp lines and edges that I enjoy touching and carving so much.