Talk about timely posting from a legend

I have recently finished a commission carving and beings my first, I had no idea on how to pack and ship it without damage.

The Fly Fisherman carving has an extra long fishing pole and it the angle in which it sits in the fisherman's hand caused me a dilemma on how to pack the piece.  The most fragile component to the piece was hanging out there just waiting to be broken upon arrival at the customers residence.

I checked out what Lynn O. Doughty of Outwest Wood Carving was sharing with the world (see link on sidebar of this blog) and would you believe he has shared (2) videos on packaging his absolutely  awesome carvings.  He transports his work back and forth to carving shows and competitions as well as sending to customers.

Now keep in mind, I view Lynn Doughty as the Most Royal Grand Pu bah of caricature carving.  He has exceeded Rock Star to Ethereal Being level in my book.  He could charge an arm and a leg for sharing his knowledge and experience by selling CD's and videos.  Believe me, with the following he has I am sure people would gladly pay the cash.  That's just not his way. He freely shares his videos with the simply understandable copyright infringement stipulations.

If you are a fan of pure talent, artistry and good ole down home hospitality, please do yourself a favor and check him out.

Links to his videos and blog.

Out West Woodcarving Blog (Lynn O. Doughty)

Another Fly Fisherman

This is my 2nd fly fisherman caricature.  This piece was requested from a FB friend and talented briar pipe maker www.briarbirdpipes.com.

In a win/win situation, he asked me if I would consider trading the carving for a new pipe made by him.  I quickly agreed.

This guy is about 8" tall wader boots to cap.

Basswood and acrylic paint.

Thank you for looking in.

Dad's Walking Stick

For Father Day this year, I decided to carve a Walking Stick for Dad.  Unbeknownst to me,  he had talked with Mom and divulged to her that he thought of asking if I'd carve a walking stick for him.

This piece is aspen, carved, burned for accent, and includes vines, whitetail deer hoof prints, and turkey tracks.

Thanks, as always, for looking in. 

Chip Carved Wedding Plates

Good morning.

It has been a long time since I've updated this blog.  The time has not gone without continual carving activity.

The wedding plates below are for my nephew and neice for their respective big days.

The plate blanks were purchased from www.mychipcarving.com.  The design inspiration is from Wayne Barton and Marty Leenhouts.

The pieces are coated in a 50/50 mixture of Boiled Linseed Oil and Mineral Spirits and then finished with Satin Polyurethane.

Thanks, as always, for looking in.

Gift carved for Dad's 76th Birthday

My Dad turned 76 this past September and as is now getting to be tradition, I carve a gift for him.

One of my fondest memories of Dad is his love of the outdoors.  Dad is a fisherman, hunter, golfer and anything else he can do outside the confines of anything man made.

Dad taught myself and my 5 brothers how to hunt pheasants from the farm-fields of Mid Michigan.  Dad first met Mom as a young man asking permission from a man, who ended up to be his father-in-law,  permission to hunt pheasants with his buddies on the old man's property.

Dad's bird-dog of choice is Brittany Spaniels.  Now Dad has hunted over many brittany's in his day, my favorite was "Sal".  "Sal" was short for "Salvatore's something something" on his registered papers.  Could never remember Sal's full name.  Sale was unusual in that Dad primarily hunted and trained female brittanys.

Sal was a barrel chested stud of a male that was regal looking as hell, a darn good hunter, but also sweet as could be when he was not "on the hunt".

This carving is of an old man rewarding a young pup, with a pheasant in his mouth, with a pat on the head for a job well done.

I have many fond memories of hunting and hunting dogs and I wanted thank Dad for that with this carving.

The figures are carved out of Butternut and the base is of oak.  I applied Tung Oil and sealed with satin Deft polyeurethane finish.