Whittle Folk Gothic were carved around 1990 – 1991 and these five are all that remain from that era.   The inspiriation for these Whittle Folk Gothic came from the famous painting entitled “American Gothic” by Grant Wood.  Each was carved from a three quarter inch by at least three inches tall block of basswood and finished natural using Deft semi gloss clear wood finish (a brushing lacquer).  These “Gothic” figures were an attempt to carve realistic figures in a small scale of the whittle-carving style of carving only with a knife.  Read the rest of this entry »

WHITTLE FOLK ‘POKES are carvings done in a Western theme.  Each one, except for the miniature and the bust, were carved out of a three quarter inch square by four inch tall basswood block using only a knife and in particular just the tip end of the blade using a slicing cut. Read the rest of this entry »

These Whittle Folk Geezers are Five Gentlemen Geezers whose tall and stately stature give them the distinction of being respected for what they have experienced in life.

Each is carved out of a one inch square by five inch tall block of bass wood and are colored with artist oil paint mixed with boiled linseed oil.  Whittle Folk are carved only with a knife using an “exaggerated realism” style.  Read the rest of this entry »

The WOOD BEE CARVER has discovered over the years of carving a creative tension that is both “agony” and “ecstasy.”  Experiencing this tension almost every time with any new carving project led me to come up with the following rule: “CARVING IS AGONY AND ECSTASY, BUT ECSTASY ALWAYS FOLLOWS THE AGONY .”

Because wood carving is a “learn by and while doing” and one’s subconscious is at work in the creative process, there is a certain amount of tension (as in  the stretching of a rubber band and an inner power as the rubber band is released and returns to its former state) and in this tension there is a certain inner power at work.  This creative tension can be called the “agony and ecstasy” of the carving process.  Read the rest of this entry »

The WOOD BEE CARVER has always preferred pocket knives that have been refurbished into carving knives as his primary carving tool.  Perhaps it is the nostalgia from boyhood days of whittling with an old pocket knife that adds a little romance to carving with a knife.  Read the rest of this entry »

WHITTLE FOLK CLASSICS are whittle-carved out of one and a half square by six inch tall  block of basswood.  Each subject in this series has been carved several times before only in smaller versions from a one inch square by four and a half inch tall block of basswood.  Each has been highlighted in a previous posting and are grouped together here in four photographs showing the front, back and both sides of the six carvings.  Read the rest of this entry »

The figure of a carpenter holding a plane in one hand and a saw in the other has been a popular carving over the years in their smaller versions.   The two examples of  WHITTLE FOLK CLASSIC  here shows one with a beard and the other clean shaven.  Most of the time these are carved as “Old Geezers” and some might even call them “old galoots” because the nickname “galoot” has been adopted by those who collect and use old wood working tools as described at www.oldtoolsshop.com and many other sites when one makes a Google search on the Internet for “galoot.” Read the rest of this entry »