Nicholas A. Poleschuk, Jr.  

–  Artist

My work comes out of a love for sculpting, a passion for detail and a tool discovered at a woodworking show that allows me to combine the two, a high speed engraver.  The speed of the engraver allows me tremendous control to create my sculptures. The dental burs used help me produce the unique textures seen in my work.

Eggs as Art

• Maria Bartholdi, Producer
• Matthew Bluhm, Videographer
• David Klassen, Off-line Editor

This video was produced for KSMQ Public Television in Austin, Minnesota for its arts, culture & history documentary program “Off 90”. Funds for its production were provided by the Legacy Amendment.

Winner: Upper Midwest Emmy Awards, Best Instructional/Informative Segment, 2012

I do low relief sculpting on ostrich, emu and rhea eggshells along with nature and geometric shapes carved into goose and chicken eggshells. Emu eggshell sculpting, in particular, thrills me. The dark green, almost black outer layer, the turquoise middle layer and white inner layer provide a color palette not available with other shells. I work at using the colored layers to their best advantage in my designs. The emu egg shell is only 0.04” (1 mm) thick so the entire design has to be sculpted within this thickness along with the restrictions of the thickness of each of the colored layers. This is what makes sculpting emu eggshells challenging and so much fun.

My wood sculpting includes leaves carved in the round for pendants and scenes from nature sculpted in low relief. These small sculptures allow me to explore a material I am very familiar with, in a different way. Working with wood has been a part of life from the time my dad first allowed me in his shop. I started building veneered jewelry boxes, with an inlaid initial, in Junior High. Over time my projects got bigger as I started building clocks and furniture. Now my projects are on a miniature scale.

My collectible Christmas ornaments come from a tradition I started over 25 years ago, of presenting a handcrafted wood Christmas ornament to family and friends. An original design is created each year, individually cut from thin hardwood, sanded, finished with danish oil, signed and dated. The jeweled Christmas trees are a special addition to my collection of ornaments. Faceted amethyst, blue topaz, citrine, garnet and peridot are used as ornaments on the tree and are set in the wood. The tree is topped with two .03 carat diamonds set in 14K gold. The Christmas tree is hung using a 14K gold chain attached to the top.