The WOOD BEE CARVER  begins with a block of wood carving the subject to its basic form without any detail.  His rule is: “Form Follows Function – Detail Follows Form,” meaning that before any details can be carved the proper form or foundation must be established in order for the details to fit.

All his human figures begin by carving the rough form of the head covering of the subject being carved, the reason being is that the head fits into the head covering rather than the head covering sitting on top of the head.  The head covering could be a hat, a head dress or simply hair.  If there is no head covering then the head is the first thing carved to the basic form of a head. Read the rest of this entry »

The WOOD BEE CARVER begin whittling as a farm boy in the late nineteen forties and early nineteen fifties.  Every farm boy had a pocket knife and if one had a pocket knife one tried to whittle.  So when wood carving became a passion in the early nineteen seventies it was natural to use pocket knives as the main carving tool.

So much of wood carving and its related activity is to learn by doing along with reading books on wood carving and talking with other woodcarvers.  It was at this growing interest in wood carving that I read over and over again Andy Anderson’s book “How to Carve Characters In Wood.” In that book Andy described how he made his own carving knives out of old straight razors by mortising in a piece a wood an area to receive the tang part of the razor and glue a matching piece of wood to complete the handle. Read the rest of this entry »

The WOOD BEE CARVER occasionally will teach a class on his style of “Whittle-Carving” or carving only with a knife. Two recent classes were conducted in which students survived a class in “Whittle Folk Art” by whittling away time.

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Members of the Frankenmuth Michigan Carvers Guild who participated in a Whittle-Carving class at their club house on April 23, 24 and 25 were: Ed Kopka, Jim LaPan, Kurt Sherwood, Ron Nielson, Ed Sowulewski, Bob Thurston, Diane Reed, Jim Grohoski, Tony Simone, Raleigh Draper and LeRoy Dunn.

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Whittle Folk Relief carving has been done as the handle of letter openers and as jewelry pins.

The strip of wood used is bass wood a little thicker than the proverbial yard stick and about as wide.  Quarter inch thick basswood an inch and a quarter wide  and eight inches long is the actual size cut. A letter opener can be carved out of the eight inch long blank with the head carved on one end and the letter opener blade carved on the other end.  Read the rest of this entry »

Wood carvers are some of the best folk one will ever meet and some very good friendships occur through woodcarving activities.  Perhaps it is because wood carvers share that special bond of creative energy that not only carves wood but carves a special place in the hearts of friends.  Such a friendship produces good humor and playful kidding along with the mutual encouragement in the art of carving friendships.  One such example of this kind of friendship was bestowed upon me as “an honor” long to be cherished in the form of a “relief sculpture” as only Norb Hartmann can do, which he has done for many people.

This “relief sculpture” is a depiction of how The WOOD BEE CARVER looks when he participates in wood carving shows with bib overalls, bow tie with tails and a black derby hat (an outfit worn since 1976 and somewhat of a trademark).  The likeness is uncanny but what makes it even more special is the labor of love and friendship that went into the carving and all the while Norb and his wife Mary Ellen were chucking at the fun they were producing. Read the rest of this entry »

Santa jewelry pins are carved as a flat relief out of  quarter inch thick bass wood that is about an inch and a quarter wide, kinda like a yard stick without the numbers printed on it.  Each is carved using a knife.  The head covering is carved first so that when the head is carved it will fit into the hat.  The length is determined by how long of a beard the Santa will have, (making each Santa pin between an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half long).  Read the rest of this entry »

Apple wood is a very beautiful wood that is considered to be a hard wood but it is not as hard as cherry, maple or walnut.   Its rich color without distinct grain pattern makes it suitable to carve jewelry pieces.  Since the grain composition is very tight one can carve intricate details without those details crumbling, splitting or breaking at crucial design junctures.  The carvings depicted in the photo were carved between 1978 and 1981.  Each was carved with a knife while those with textured backgrounds were textured with an awl or ice pick kind of tool. Read the rest of this entry »