The Bear Creek Hobo in the photograph above was carved using a Scimitar knife made by Mickey Gaines of the Bear Creek Blades. The knife was made in the continuation of the tradition of knives made by the late Ralph E. Long. Read the rest of this entry »
Remember the old childhood puzzle with random dots jumbled on the page with a number adjacent to each dot? The puzzle was to draw a line from the dot beginning with number 1 to connect with the dot with a number 2 and then number 3, number 4 and so forth until all the dots were connected to reveal a hidden picture. Read the rest of this entry »
The WOOD BEE CARVER is primarily a knife carver and ever since boy hood days of whittling with an old pocket knife, the knife, any knife, remains a favorite. Even though the WOOD BEE CARVER uses and highly recommends knives made by Helvie Knives, Bud Murray Knives, Dave Lyons Knives, and Dunkle Knives all who make knives designed by the WOOD BEE CARVER, yet from time to time OTHER KNIVES are also used.
OTHER KNIVES are knives the WOOD BEE CARVER has made for his own personal use by using old pocket knife blades to reshape and re-handle into a carving knife. OTHER KNIVES come from the mind of the “Tinker Thinker” whose mind explores the day dream adventures of tinkering with knife blade shapes for making experimental carving knives. Read the rest of this entry »
The process of carving the MOTHER and CHILD is an ongoing study every time it is carved with varying interpretations. It begins with a mental image that has developed in the memory of having seen many interpretations of the Madonna and Child of the Nativity in various artistic presentations. The two photographs above show a miniature Mother and Child in front of a block of wood and a completed carving of Mother and Child. The miniature was carved several years ago as an exercise of creative memory shaping a small block of wood using only a knife. The miniature serves as a point of reference of a mental image growing in its interpretation. A series of photographs showing various views of the completed Mother and Child begin this study. Following will be photos of the progressive stages in the carving of Mother and Child. Read the rest of this entry »
It has been said that “variety is the spice of life” and that same spice is experienced by the carver whenever carving a variety of subjects. Most of these “spice of life” carvings are either gifts or destined to be gifts. Each is displayed here in photographic form as a display of carvings done for the fun of it by bringing a smile to the soul of the carver and the recipient.
The variety of Santa pins is destined to become gifts during the holiday season of Christmas. Some are the traditional red and white Santa while others depict “black” Santa, a green hat Santa, a natural wood finish Santa and holly Santa. Read the rest of this entry »
A commission to carve two Mountain Men just alike using a photograph of a clay sculpture of a mountain man became a welcome challenge. Every carving project is a learning piece with its own built in challenges. One challenge during the planning and imagining stage is to make the transition of carving a three dimensional figure based upon a two dimensional image with only one view. Three dimensional is to see the project with an “in the round perspective” while a two dimensional image is a “flat perspective.” Another challenge is to try to keep the carving as close to the original image that was a clay sculpture which means two mediums “clay” and “wood” create different surface textures and color renditions. Read the rest of this entry »
The “CAN-TIN Shop” carving inside a glass block window is kind of like a ship in a bottle, only not as intricate. This is a commission from a person who wanted a sheet metal worker working at a sheet metal machine carved inside a glass block window. This carving is a simplified interpretation of that concept where the viewer uses imagination to tell the story. This project was an assembly of parts that had to be small enough to fit through the oval opening. Epoxy and super glue were used to build up the assembly. The five inch tall man is wearing a “skull cap” that old time metal workers and mechanics often wore to cover the top of their head. The simple interpretation of the machine is to imply that it is bending the sheet of metal (tin) – once again imagination reads more into the scene than is actually there. Read the rest of this entry »