Jim Hecker recently carved an accordion player and has documented the carving process and progress with photographs and a brief written description. Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Holmes,  an Octogenarian, has been carving only for a couple of years but carves almost every day as a good example that the more one carves the better one carves.  Recently he carved a golfer for a long time friend who was terminally ill.  The friend, a golfer himself, was so touched by this gesture of friendship he kept the carving near him to have available to show it to any who came to visit.  The golfer carving was also present at the friend’s funeral indicative of how much he appreciated the gift.  That is what carvers do whenever they give of themselves through their carving and creative journey. Read the rest of this entry »

The Rest of the Story can now be told about the Block Heads that were posted on February 17, 2013 in that the Bock Heads were a companion to a special knife made by Rich Smithson for the twenty fifth anniversary of the Eastern Woodland Carving Club  (Converse, IN).    The photos are provided by Rich and Holli Smithson along with their daughter Skylar.  (Click on each photo to enlarge then use back arrow to returns to posting) Read the rest of this entry »

In March Rich and Holli Smithson of HELVIE KNIVES sponsored a knife handle carving contest that was judged at the Renegade Seminar by judge Mark Akers.  Four winners were recognized with the announced prizes but in reality all who submitted a carved knife handle was a winner just by participating.  In the photo display below it will become quite apparent what a great variety of top notch ideas were carved into these knife handles.  Congratulations to all who entered and Thanks to HELVIE KNIVES. Read the rest of this entry »

Jim and Rita Lukens  from Knightstown, IN are regular wood vendors at woodcarving shows in the Ohio and Indiana area. Occasionally they will have a little block of wood with a flaw like a large knot or nature’s crack that is marked “FREE” as a good natured gesture of humor. Or perhaps they know that there are some carvers like the WOOD BEE CARVER who follows the Old Carvers Rule “leave no wood uncarved,”  and will accept the “FREE” block of wood.  Rita asks only that the carver bring back the block when carved to show what can be carved out of such an unusual piece of wood.

The carving of “Lukey”  is the result of this “FREE” block of wood that was carved into a caricature of Jim, who is noted for chewing on the stub of a cigar.  Instead of showing Rita what was carved out of the “FREE” block of wood, “Lukey”  was given back to her as a gift of friendship and gesture of “one good turn deserves to be punished”  with a gift of humor.  Woodcarving friends are the best of friends and the best at having fun.

Dave Stetson,  carver, instructor and author,  is one of the founding members of the Caricature Carvers of America whose style of caricature carving bares his own signature of movement and animation.  Such a style does not happen without a lifelong pursuit of the art of imbuing life into a carving by continuous study, observation, experimentation and imagination.  Three of his carvings in the WOOD BEE CARVER’s collection will serve as a visual tutorial to begin seeing animation in the various angles of the pose and posture of a caricature figure.  By visually studying each carving in the series of photographs one can begin to see how to emulate similar animation in one’s own carvings. (Click on photos to enlarge.) Read the rest of this entry »

Norb Hartman recently gifted me with a personalized love spoon that has a “WOOD BEE” at its top who has a carving knife in each of its hands as can be seen in the photos above that frame a picture of Norb. Read the rest of this entry »