Carving is a partnership between the creative subconscious sending a message to the hand holding a carving tool to shape wood into a creative expression of the art of carving by hand.  It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so this photo essay of hands carving will say all that needs to be said. Read the rest of this entry »

HOLLY SNOWMAN was carved out of a six inch tall  by one and half inch square block of basswood. There is a sprig of holly in the hat band of the top hat and holly leaves decorate the red tie thus giving the snowman his name of “Holly Snowman.” The  checker board plaid lines of the green vest were carved and woodburned both to give texture as well as contrasting dark lines to the green vest. Read the rest of this entry »

The WOOD BEE CARVER likes to tinker and doodle with ideas and innovations that spring from childhood memories.  Perhaps that is one of the motivations for carving one’s creative ideas that come on the journey of carving wood.  As a boy growing up on a little farm “three miles South of Poneto, Indiana,” I made many of my toys many of which were whittled using a pocket knife.  That same childlike thrill of discovery and home made creativity spills over into an “old man’s toy” as is evidenced by the PONETO TOOL CADDY just created. Read the rest of this entry »

The WOOD BEE CARVER is always trying to learn various styles of carving in addition to his normal Whittle-Carving only with a knife.  Relief carving utilizes traditional carving tools as well as learning to see and carve in perspective in a shallow surface.  The basswood ostrich egg with its own turned base presents another challenge with its curving surface in which to carve a relief scene. Read the rest of this entry »

The WOOD BEE CARVER has worn a black derby hat, bib overalls and a Colonel Sanders bow tie since 1976 whenever he participates in a woodcarving show.  The derby hat was purchased at a church rummage sale and has become frayed around the edges over the years.  That is what age will do to any of us but at any age we can still look the part.  Since I wear glasses the glasses were carved without the detail of the eyes showing through the lens.  This adds a bit of mystery appearance in the same way that sun glasses add to the mystery of a person’s face. In this self portrait figure the center of attention are the hands whittling while the eyes hidden behind the lens of the glasses are looking at the hands. Read the rest of this entry »

A block of basswood awaits the sharp cutting edge of carving tools to open its potential of a carving project.  A New Year awaits with untold carving potential for  any carver to put carving tools to the wood to carve new projects.  A block of wood holds a secret awaiting to be revealed by carving away wood surrounding the secret.  The carver’s mind holds a secret of creativity that awaits being revealed during the carving process.  The only way each secret will come to life is for the carver to carve rather than just dreaming of carving. Read the rest of this entry »

Wood carvers are a strange lot in that any piece of wood is seen as having potential for a carving project.  The lowly golf tee has that potential so here are some caricature examples of using a golf tee as a carving novelty.  The shape of the golf tee dictates the basic shape while imagination works to create something in that basic shape.  These twelve examples were carved using a knife in slicing cuts in the Whittle-Carving style.  Howard Feed-N-Wax was applied to the carved areas to give depth of perception to enliven the carved cuts. Read the rest of this entry »