"Greenland is ice, and Iceland is green."
That's what an exchange student from Iceland told me thirty years ago. Jon Adolf would, I believe, agree with the sentiment. And to underscore the point, he says that his favorite species is Icelandic birch.

Jon Adolf is a young wood sculptor from Iceland who received a very special birthday present from his mother some years ago - a course in woodcarving. After studying in Iceland and Austria, he practiced in England for several years. He carves in bone and most kinds of wood. The work is "inspired by Nordic mythology as well as everyday life, where the result is a unique balance of excellent technique, craftsmanship and sense of form. Deep respect for nature and man is combined in an artistic craftsmanship, where many of the objects have been years in the making."

His haunting masks (above), while stylized and charicatured, nonetheless evoke a powerful response. The two emotions juxtapositioned in the middle face, highlighted by a variance in species, are at once humorous and despondant. Cover half of the face for a moment and study the snide cynicism of the left half, or the anguish of the right.