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.

Sean Reynolds is a very enthusiastic budding carver who is so eager to learn and is growing in his carving experience.  So much so that he experienced a tendonitis in his wrist that side lined his carving activities for awhile but is now back at it by pacing himself in a healthy manner.  He is developing an inner eye to see within a block of wood what needs to be carved away to set free the image hiding inside the wood.

The following photographs are examples of his advancement and growth in the carving pursuits.  And besides that he is fun to talk with about the wonderful world of wood carving as evidenced by the many friends he has made on the Wood Carving Illustrated Forum.  Whenever he visits me from time to time for a carving chat and carving session his eagerness indicated that he has been bitten by the “carving bug.”

Tony Perry is a fellow member of the Dayton Carvers Guild (Ohio) and beside carving whimsical houses in tree branches, he makes wonderful carving knives out of  old carpenter hand saw blades.  He fashions each in a unique handle shape that has a surprising comfortable fit  to the carving hand.  Here are two that he made for me according to my design of the blade shape.  Tony is a “sharp” friend.  Thanks Tony

Bob Holmes has been carving only a few months since March when he was a student in a introductory class I taught for senior citizens.  The carving bug got hold of him and he has not been able to put the carving knife down as he continues to fulfill my adage, “The more one carves the better one carves.” He is also a testament to the reality that one is never too old to learn something new.  It is my pleasure to share his most recent carving done all on his own using only the posting about Cy Clone on this site. Read the rest of this entry »

Will Hayden is an Emeritus Member of the Caricature Carvers of America who continues to carve as often as his health allows him to do so.  This photo shows that he still is on the “cutting edge” of creativity.  THANKS to Will for all his contributions to the carving world and for still sharing his good sense of humor through his carvings.  Carve on Will Hayden.

Jim Hecker of  Elk River, MN is a retired Lutheran pastor who has been carving as a hobby for some time.  The Scandinavian Flat Plane style of carving has been his primary exercise in carving pursuit.  That is until recently when he carried carving to the next level.  The Next Level is to carve an original idea into a personal design that goes beyond what one normally carves.

Jim wanted to carve a birthday gift for a retired United Church of Christ clergy friend that would bear some resemblance of the recipient.  “The Right Reverend” was the result of his imaginative planning,  modeling and carving the final design.  The photographic journey that follows presents overall views of this outstanding carving. Read the rest of this entry »

My good friend Don Stephenson is a remarkable artist whose creative mind keeps coming up with unique carving ideas.  He is so prolific with his artistic creations that I have nick named him the “IDEA MONSTER.”  Recently he drew a pirate in the shape of an egg as an idea for carving a wooden egg.  There was nothing for me to do other than carve a pirate first in a goose egg and then in a hen egg.  The photographs that follow in this pictorial essay are the results of this journey on the high seas of carving adventure.

The next  four photographs use the original drawing by Don Stephenson as a backdrop for the front and back view of the goose egg pirate and then both the goose egg  pirate and hen egg pirate.

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