Frank

This carving is from one of two roughouts I bought at a fund raiser. I named him Frank after a local carver who said it looked like him, since he walks stooped over. He was fun to carve and I really like the way the face turned out. He is 8 inches tall.

American Goldfinch

I carved two Goldfinch's. One is a ornament that is five inches long and the other is a small Finch that is three inches long. I carved and painted them at the same time.

Chip Carving

This carving is meant to be used to hold a bottle of wine at the dinner table or a place to store little knickknacks. The sides have only two designs. I carved one of the same designs in the wrong spot so I ended up with two instead of four different designs.  It is 6 inches across and 1 3/4 inches tall. It was in a kit so all I had to do is draw in the design and carve.

Friendly Carving

Last weekend I was carving at a Rendezvous in West Glacier. I enjoy the time up there talking and carving with people of all skill levels. If you are a beginner it is a good place to go and pick up some skills. Most of the classes are 3 hours and a few are 6 hours. The Montana carvers do this every year in August. This is what I carved during the three days and I painted them when I got home. I came home with good memories and new friends. There was a group of young ladies from Mongolia who were working at the campground and one lady was interested in the carving. I gave her an owl ornament that I was teaching. The next day she said she was interested in carving something. So that afternoon she brought a friend and they carved a tree out of cotton wood bark. They did a great job on their first carving.

Go Zag's

This bulldog is carved from 3/8 inch thick basswood as refrigerator magnets. The bulldog is the mascot for Gonzaga. We follow their basketball team every year. I carved the bulldog for gifts for my wife and a couple of friends. I took the picture of the three bulldogs on the refrigerator. It showed my reflection in the picture, so I took it again on the side of the refrigerator. When I enhanced the picture it gave me these neat background colors.

Olde World Santa

I carved this Santa in Cottonwood bark. It is 10 inches tall and 3 inches wide. This is the first time I tried painting something in bark. I like to carve something in the back
of the piece.

Bird House Ornament

This is an idea from a Montana friend. The house is carved from cottonwood bark and the bird is from basswood. It is 2 1/4 inch square and 3/4 inch thick at the widest point. I was going to carve in the features of the house but I liked the look of the bark so I burned in boards. I like the contrast of the Goldfinch against the bark. It's a fun one to carve with some of those scrapes of wood lying around.