2020 Santa

2020 was a rough year, even Santa had to mask up to keep Mrs. Claus and the elves safe. Here are a few step by step photos of how I carved this year's ornament from basswood. I painted Santa with thinned acrylics and applied two coats of water based polyurethane. Comments or questions are welcome, and thanks for following along. Better days are ahead.......

                                                          

Woodcarving Illustrated Fall Issue 2020

I'm happy to share the news that my latest project is included in the Woodcarving Illustrated fall 2020 issue. I designed this bottle stopper project for the Halloween season with the adults in mind. Thanks to my wife for the excellent photos. Enjoy!

Self-isolation

I hope everyone is safe and well during this Global pandemic. I'm staying busy with yard work and getting the vegetable garden going for the season. Of course I've also been carving a lot of cottonwood bark. So I thought I'd share the pieces I've been working on since 'Rona came to town. Thanks for following. Take care of yourself, make sure you get outside get some fresh air, take a walk or just relax. Try not to stress we're going to get through this together.

Antioch Library Carve-In 2002

I had a good time carving with fellow members of the Northland Woodcarvers yesterday. We carve at several local libraries throughout the year. We always carve at the Mid-Continent Antioch Library, in
Gladstone MO in March. We'll be at the Mid-Continent Library North Oak Branch, in Kansas City,MO in May this year. We hope to add a couple more to our schedule. These are great places to meet and introduce wood carving to people. We have gained new members in the past and have a few people interested in joining our club from this demo. If you have a carving club, you are probably experiencing a drop in members as we all grow older. You should consider coordinating events with your local library. We also carve at two nature centers during the year. One is once a month and the other is an annual event.

Wise Old Wood Spirit

This wise old wood spirit is an original one of kind carving, hand carved from a large piece of North Dakota cottonwood bark. He is stroking his long beard and seems to be reminiscing about the good old days, or maybe passing along some good advice. He measures 22" in length and over 3" wide. This piece of  bark is about 3" thick. Finished with a water based polyurethane and a coat of Howard's Feed N Wax. All my carvings are available for purchase at my Etsy Store......

Knotty Wood Spirits   

                                             

                                             

                                             

Brothers

I've had this large piece of North Dakota Cottonwood bark for a couple of years, I finally decided to see who was trapped inside. It measures 28" in length, 3 1/2"-4 1/2" wide and 3" thick. When I start a new project I plan to take step by step photos and show the process of creating a carving. Usually once I start carving, I get in the zone and forget. That's the case with the Native American. I pretty much had him roughed in before taking the first photo. I was more aware with the mountain man, and probably took too many photos. But hopefully these will help some of you, just getting started with carving, understand the process. I start by roughing in the basic shapes, paying attention to height, width, depth, position and bone structure. I'll then refine the areas of the carving shaping the nose, eyes, mouth etc. I work over the entire carving, not completing one area. I want to be able to adjust the carving if needed. Finally adding the details, this is the fun part. Don't rush into detailing, make sure the carving is in proper proportion. I detail the eyes last, that is when the carving comes to life. This piece is titled "Brothers".