Don Stephenson,  my artist/carver friend who I call “Idea Monster” has come up with another unique carving idea in the form of Green Man Trees.   Using his drawings as a guide the two Whittle Green Man Trees in the middle  photographs were carved out of an inch square and an inch and half tall block of basswood.  First the square block was whittle-carved into a cone shape and then random and stair stepped leaves or boughs were carved using only a knife.  A nose was carved with deep recesses for the eye sockets were carved along with a mouth opening.  Leaf boughs shaped the eye brows, mustache and the cheeks of a face peeking through the leaves.

A littler dab of Sap Green artist oil paint was mixed with a little dabble of Howard Feed N Wax to form a coloring for the trees that is thin enough to allow for the wood to show through the coloring.

These Whittle Green Man Trees can be carved to any size and can be embellished with different shaped boughs and have snow carved on top of some of the boughs.  The Idea Monster teaches us to use our imagination by taking the inspiration from a drawing and creating a unique carving of its own personality.

Thanks to Don Stephenson for his gifts of drawing and friendship which are an art in themselves.