Well... Here is  a photo of a mini Loon that I just finished... put this bird on a cherry base with waves carved in...
it is about 6" long and a fun project...

Well... here it is the day before Christmas... been making a few items for the big day...
here is a photo of the news guys at shop doing a little carving...
Also a photo of a Red-Headed woodpecker that I did... this one is carved coming down the tree...
Next week will be time to tie up loose ends and then get carving for the upcoming competition season... have several ideas for our local DU and for Worlds...
Want to wish everyone a great hoilday... enjoy the time with family and friends...

Well.. I guess you all been woundering what I have been up too... here are some shots of  us finishing the 1st Hometown Marathon... Mark Sullivan, Robin Sullivan and I were the only competitors on this run... we had help along the way from our pit crew of Sue Smoker, Jeri Smoker and
 Ben Drumheller...   we trained with several long run and when the day came the weather was good and we ran 26.2 mile around the local area...
Also had several folks from the local running club tag along in sections... want to thank Rose, Dan,
Mark and Doug for giving up part of their Sunday to run along and all the encouragement...

Now back to carving and running shorter distances...

Well... here is a mini Can that I carved awhile ago... been hunting ducks and carving alittle... doing the basement over...working on some mini for Pepper's Art Store... and helping others with their projects....
Will post pictures of the stuff I'm working on now...

Well.. here is what it looked like out our window the other day... the big storm has not been fun...
some damage here.. but are problems are minor compared to alot of folks that we know...
Duck season is just around the corner... getting the decoys together, the boat, and looking foreward...
Carving a bunch of little items... going to start my contest stuff shortly...

Well.. here are some shots from the weekend at the Chesapeke Challenge...

first photo is all the NEA class birds that I was prelidged to take to the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art... you can see my student were all over the place.. but shorebirds were the theme this year...

 

The next photo is Yellow-Fronted Woodpecker that I finished and entered into the contest... I was lucky enough to finish first and this bird will be in the museum for six months...

so now that we are home.. it is back to work..

Well... Thanks for the long weekend... got a few projects done....just kept painting and throwing them on the pile...
now if you believe that....
This is part of our collection.. we are remolding our basement and we cleared the shelves....so the birds look alittle unorganized ....
now back to work....

Well... here is the latest carving that I finished... any guesses... you will have to look in other than around here... It is a Yellow-Fronted Woodpecker... from South America...
Rich sent me a photo and a drawing of this bird a few years ago... pulled this out of the file and thought I would try... the bird is hanging sideways on the tree and I got to use colors that I don't get out too often...  fun project...
Now I'm off to Canada to fish and take vacation...and don't be fooled I will carve while I'm there...

Well...Here are some photos of the Crow that I'm carving... these are the feeders... one is wood and one is cork... just have to finish the others and learn how to hunt Crows and I'll be great...                 fun project..

Well... the year is just moving along... here is a mini Canvasback that I completed for the Columbia Flyway Decoy Show...
They have a contest were they pick the bird you make it enter it.. and then they trade birds... so I get a Can back but it won't be mine...
neat idea...
Been carving up a storm with all the NEA (national endowment for the arts) projects going on... got 7 students and they are all making something different...
Now... I have to go clean my paint room so they can paint with me this week...

Well.. Here is a piece of "folken" art that I finished last week... this was a wedding present...If you have not figured it out...it is a Barn Owl..
Carved from three pieces of wood.. painted  and then stained with a wax over the whole bird...
I painted this bird simple to get a patina for that older look...
Fun project.. lots of work.. also had to do more research on owls...

Well... just finished another shop night... here is a photo of a Pintail that we did in the seminar last weekend.. that was a fun project... good group... I think small classes are the way to go...
All the guys seem to have a good time and we got done early...
The other photo is the cut out of a Crow with it's wing out... cork body ..wood head...
So, got lots of material to move...I'm hoping this is going to be the one that draws the Crows into the spread...

Well.. here are some photos of some crows that I have been working on.  .decided that maybe I would hunt crow this fall... the duck hunting in these parts has gone down, way down.. so hunting crows you use calls, a blind, and decoys... it is like waterfowl but your only hunting one species and on dry land...
These decoys were styled after some antique style that I have seen... also making one with a wing out and some uprights...
Now I'm off to teach a seminar on carving a Pintail... wish me luck...

Well ... here is a photo of Ben (my nephew) carving a shorebird.. see how excited he looks..  ... I got selected for the National Endowment for the Arts.. so he is one of six students that I'll be teaching carving to... the we will be taking these birds to Salisbury, MD in Oct...
Now... off to the basement to paint...

Well... here was my Saturday project... stacked and sorted over 2200 board feet of Eastern White Pine...
This is kiln dried.. and some of this wood is 5x10x 12' or 4x9x 12'... that is some heavy stuff...move some of this wood to the shop...
As I went thru this pile there are some really nice pieces of wood in there...
Now I'll need to do is come up with projects for all this... some of this will be my retirement wood...
Now going to take some pain releif and rest my weary bones...

Here is a photo of Chincoteague, VA.. looking out at the new bridge... I guess I havew to get back to taking carving photos...
It is summer and I still carve, but it is just hard to sit and paint when there is stuff to do outside...

Well... just got back from our trip... first photo is Sue and I on sky line drive in VA...the other photo is most of the gang on the chesapeke bay bridge tunnel...
1042 mile in five days .. in 95 -100 degree heat... have fun... saw alot of sights... got to see some friends and family along the way.. got to meet some new people...
Glad to be home safe... now back to carving...

Well... welcome to summer... not much going on in the carving world... been working on several project and making little progress...
leaving for a vacation / motorcycle trip on Sunday... we are gouing to circle the bay.. we also call it the "non-beach tour".. are plan is not to go to any beaches...
Here a Avocet that I did awhile ago..

5-30

Well.. been working on some small project... also been hunting turkeys.. (with no luck)..
doing a woodpecker and a pair of Hooded Mergansers...
starting to draw out some crows.. going to make a rig of crow decoys.. nothing fancy... just fun...

Well... Here is a photo of my piece at the Ward World Carving Competition...
There were nine carving in this division of worlds...
The carvings that won were real good...
Now back to the drawing board... had some fun doing this... so I may do another...
As soon as I get over my post show depression...you know you work for a long time, enter your work in the big dance.. then as quick as it started it is over and what are you left with...
empty feeling and a big block of wood...

4-18

Well.. here is the finished project...

all stained and sealed...

quite the project.. the great thing is I'm done with a couple of days to spare before Worlds..

Cedar was a good wood to choose for the first one of these interpetives that I ever did...

have some ideas for others but I told the guys at the shop to hit me with a hammer if I start another project like this.. I'm just kidding...

NO more dust from this one...

4-15

Well.. here it the carving ready for the clear coat..

a couple of splashes of color to draw focus and a little stain in the hole area for depth...

The clear coat should bring out the different shades of color in the cedar wood...

If everything goes well I'll be done a few days early...

4-13

Well.. here is the latest photos of the project... finally up to sanding and little touches...

then onto staining and being done...

quite the project as a whole...

when I started ,, the idea sounded a lot easier ..

there was a lot of wood removed...

did I metion the dust...

4-9

Well... here is the latest.. after putting some hours in over the weekend, I remove some more wood and refined some other areas... starting to see the finish line...

If this comes out like I hope..

I see more of these project in my future...

but we will see..

did I metion the dust...

4-6

Well.. here are the updated photos... been working on this for a few weeks...

keep seeing things that need done ...

soon be to the head...

When I get the head to final shape the project should come to life.. I hope...

looking forward to seeing the final .. I'm sure the people at the shop want this to be done... I got the whole shop area taken up with tools and photos and books... and dust, lots of dust..

did I mention the dust...

4-1

Here is the updated photo for the latest project...

I am really out of my element here... but learning alot.. have what the finished carving should look like in my head ... but we will see...

Have removed alot of wood so far and still have a bunch to go... the guys at the shop are impressed.. but that is easy to do.. usually anything shiney will draw their attention...

The black duck seminar last week went well.. got everyone through the project and had some fun...

got our DU wrap up meeting tonight and I'm cooking...

3-29

Well.. it has been awhile .. here is what I'm working on..

A Interpretive wood sculpture ...

never did one of these before.. but enjoying the challenge..

carved out of cedar and using any means necessary to get the wood off..

really make you think how a parts of the piece are working together..

looks much different after tonight.. but forgot my camera.. planning on working on this over the weekend..

3-13

Well.. here are some shots of the DU banquet... the shop ended up taking 3 of the the 4 top awards...

1st photo is a Razorbill that took best in show gunner.. and the next photo is of my mini Red-tail Hawk mounted on a hunk of furniture...

we had a good banquet with 64 pieces there at the show... now onto Worlds...

3-2-12

Well.. it is that time of year.. our local DU and decoy contest that goes along with the banquet...

here are just ywo of the pieces that I made for the event... We usually get between 50 and 80 pieces for a one night show and sale...

The first photo is a mini Red-tail Hawk that I mounted to a old cabinet door.. I really like the color of the wood, I think it goes well with the bird..

The other is a Puffin that Sue wanted me to make.. and since I do what I am told.. here it is.. done in a antique style.. fun projects...

Well wish us luck and we will have a great night and make some bucks for the ducks...

2-20

Well.. this is what I have been up to in the paint room..

exercising my paint brushes and alot of different colors..

First Mandrian Drake that I ever painted.. no plans to do another soon...

The item that is hard for me is that I have never painted one of these before, and really 

didn't know what I was doing.. then when do I...

carved this birds awhile ago and was just not into painting it.. now that it is done, glad that it is..

Now onto DU stuff the banquet is just weeks away...

2-3

Well.. here are a couple of birds that I just finished..

a Mallard Drake and a Laughing Gull... these may go to a local contest.. or they may go to the river...

cork bodies and wood heads..

carving some items for our local DU event coming up in March 3rd...

Also got some Worlds project underway...

1-19

Well... we are back from the Toms River Show in NJ...

had a good time, got to see friends that I don't get to see to often...

I was able to enter a few birds and also got to judge some other categories...

Sue got to clerk for some of the other divisions...

Also got to eat at some really good places...

After the show I went to MD to hunt ducks and geese with the Ugly Mug Club...

we shot a few birds and laughed most of the time..

duck season is over in our state.. now we have late goose, but the only problem is that we have very few geese around... so I guess I will carve ...