I first took an interest in carving while on vacation in Montana. We stopped at a woodcarver’s shop because of the wonderful chainsaw carved bears outside. The owner took nearly an hour of his time to talk to me about some of the beautiful, lifelike ducks he also carved and to show me the most important skill a woodcarver must have – how to correctly sharpen a blade. I bought several carving blades and how-to books and, as I was leaving his shop, he said the one thing that motivated me the most to find a unique subject to carve, “Oh, you’ll be just another Santa Claus carver.” With that phrase, my stubborn streak kicked in big time.
After trying several different styles I found I preferred relief carving – basically creating a three dimensional picture out of a flat piece of wood. However, I needed an interesting subject and it sure wasn’t going to be Santa.
A hazy picture from my childhood kept appearing in my mind. It finally dawned on me it was an illustration of the famous Aesop’s fables, The Fox and the Crane. I worked on the carving every night after work until it was complete. I then found other fables I had enjoyed as a child and carved them, too.
I felt I was really on to something special and everyone who saw them wanted me to carve one for them. The problem was, carving each fable took way too long and besides, I didn’t want to keep carving the same thing over and over again. I learned how to make molds and experimented for many years to find the right material. After many years of trial and error, I discovered cold cast copper. Cold casting is a method to combine real copper powder with a two-part resin to create a finished piece with the beautiful look of solid copper but without the extremely high cost.
The enthusiastic response I’ve had to my new Garden Fables™ has been extremely heart-warming.
Some people know exactly who they want to be when they grow up. Although it took me well into my 50’s to discover my calling, I’m grateful to have finally found a job that’s meaningful, fulfilling and satisfies my artistic side as well.
