Jennifer Szczyrbak finds both her inspiration and her materials in nature, making animal sculptures out of found driftwood.

“It’s just like when you were a little kid, you know?” Szczyrbak said. “You go outside and you play in the elements and you create things out of what you find.”

She came upon driftwood as a medium on accident. She and her husband were on a walk on the beach, and she found a piece of driftwood that looked just like a moose’s head.

“So I put this moose together in the sand,” she said. “He’s been my No. 1 fan. He said, ‘You have to do more of these. People are going to love it.'”

They have. Szczyrbak is now commissioned to make other animal sculptures out of driftwood. A wood duck, buffalo, horse, and moose fill the walls of her home gallery.

“There’s something about going out in nature, you know, to see the creativity of nature. And I get inspired just by going out there,” she said. “This is God’s hand. So I like to mimic what I see.”

People can see her work on Facebook, and she has a few plans for demonstrations and classes this summer.

“I’ll probably do a demonstration at Smith + Trade sometime in August. That’s in Stillwater. And then I am in the Dow Gallery in St. Paul,” Szczyrbak said. “Here in Moose Lake, every summer I do a kids art camp. So I will be doing that mid-July.”

People can sign up through Moose Lake Community Education.