Failing to carve a muster dog career

WHILE a life-sized wooden Kelpie looked the part on Monday at the South East Victorian Sheep Dog Trials in Korumburra, the impressive carving by South Gippsland artist Olivia O’Connor needed a little assistance.

That was provided by Sean O’Leary and his dog Mumu, the 2024 Novice winner in Korumburra.

Olivia declared that “Unfortunately, sheep would not listen to a wooden dog,” despite photos giving the impression the carved Kelpie had control of the penned sheep.

The wooden Kelpie was inspired by an upcoming exhibition at the Latrobe Regional Gallery titled ‘In the Company of Dogs’ for which Olivia is a participating artist and the curator.

Growing up on farms and living regionally made a working dog an ideal choice.

“I settled on carving a Kelpie and wanted to get that half-stalking stance,” Olivia said, the dog’s attention fixed on the sheep.

Her artwork comes complete with small carved sheep but they were replaced by the real deal at the Korumburra Showgrounds.

Creating the near solid dog was an involved project.

“I had to laminate five pieces of timber together to get a piece big enough,” the artist said, the impressive canine made of Fijian Mahogany.

“It’s a good carving timber because it is a hardwood and is reasonably dense and consistent,” Olivia explained, remarking that most people assume softwoods would be better suited to carving.

With $850 worth of Mahogany used to make the sculpture, Olivia told her farming father Fergus the bag of woodchips the project provided for his chickens was worth $300.

That estimate has her considering weighing the original material and the finished product in future.

Olivia was delighted by the reception she got from the Dog Trial organisers and participants.

“Everyone was so supportive, kind and helpful despite the disruption to their morning tea break,” she said.

She was even allowed to drive her heavy sculpture onto the oval.

While the wooden Kelpie doesn’t have a specific name, the artist placed pieces of paper with the names of all the dogs she’s had in the sculpture’s chest cavity.

Along with the dog’s accompanying miniature sheep, the artwork is titled ‘A good dog on the ground is worth three in the saddle’.

Olivia heard an auctioneer utter that saying to prove a $30,000 working dog isn’t that expensive when one considers the reduced labour costs it enables.