The mental image normally associated with “Gnome”  is the little character who advertises for a travel company or for the “Garden” variety that are available in gift shops wearing a red pointed hat, blue tunic and sporting a white beard and mustache.

Gnomes are imaginary characters so it is OK to use one’s imagination in carving a gnome in a non-traditional style.  In fact carving should be a creative process that allows imagination to be set free to create in a style only imagination can visualize.  All too often in the carving journey a carver wears a strait jacket of staying within the lines of convention by carving in a predetermined style or one similar to what everybody is carving. Read the rest of this entry »