ABOUT THE ARTIST
"How long have you been carving?"
The question I receive most often, which is the hardest one for me to answer,is “How long have you been carving?” It’s hard to answer because while I carved my first bird with a mentor’s help in 1989, the fact I was on Active duty with the Air Force (AF) meant the AF and subsequent duty with the Department of Defense (DoD) were my priority until 2013, when I fully retired from the Government IT world.
I saw my first detailed bird carving in 1988 when I attended a waterfowl carving show at Marymount University in Arlington, VA that was hosted by the Northern Virginia Carvers Club (NVCC). I was smitten with the realistic detail and beauty the carvers were able to create out of wood, so I wondered whether I could do the same. One of the NVCC members agreed to show me the basics of carving and painting, so I bought tools and started experimenting in my basement on the days he was not mentoring me. I was hooked!!! I love detail work, so working with power tools and burning tips was right up my alley. My first bird was a ¼ size Canvasback drakeI completed in 1989 that I still possess. It turns out, the work doesn’t end with the carving... the painting is its own huge challenge!
So I bought tools and started experimenting in my basement on the days he was not mentoring me. I was hooked!
Over the next 10 years I continued experimenting with the tools, but my priority was my duty to the Air Force, so I didn’t create anything that was worth being seen in public. My tools started gathering dust. That changed in 1998 when I took my first professional painting instruction seminar with world-renowned Master Carver Floyd Scholz.
Floyd was conducting a painting seminar using a Saw-Whet Owl casting while on a cruise ship in the Caribbean! I didn’t realize how challenging, but also how much fun and motivating, the seminar would be. As the ship rocked on some fairly rough seas, I ended up with a cross-eyed Saw Whet, but after that trip I was hooked on the art form and on Floyd’s masterful teaching methodology. His willingness to share his processes, techniques, and trade secrets were instrumental in helping me build my confidence to pursue the artform.
Over the course of the next 25 years I continued to work for the Air Force and for the Dept of Defense, so I was limited to taking one seminar a year with Floyd. While he taught me much, after each seminar, I would literally have to pack my tools away because my jobs didn’t allow much free time. Luckily, I retained enough from year to year so I wasn’t always back to starting at square one with each new seminar.
So that was a long answer to the question of “How long have you been carving?” The time I’ve been able to spend carving is not measured in the years I’ve been pursuing the art, but rather in the weeks and months I’ve been able to commit to it.
More time to create!
Since retiring in 2013, I have been able to give myself more time to create new sculptures and learn new techniques that I am applying to habitat creation. In 2016 I carved an Ovenbird that I took to the Ward World Wildlife Competition in Ocean City, MD. It surprised me when I won first place in the Intermediate Songbird Category.
I don't carve to win awards nor compete to compare my skills to another's. I carve because I love the challenge of always trying to make the next bird better than the last.
In 2017 I completed a 1/3 size Snowy Owl sculpture that won First in Intermediate Miniature Raptors at the WardWorld’s.
In 2018 I completed a full-size Barn Owl on prey that I entered into the Canadian Concours Quebecois De Sculpture D’Oiseaux in Quebec. I won both first place in the Expert category and took Best of Competition honors.
I have not competed since 2018 because Covid shut competitions down for three years. However, I don’t carve to win awards, nor compete to compare my skills to another’s. I carve because I love the challenge of always trying to make the next bird better than the last. It is so very humbling to me to know that something I created can bring joy and be appreciated by someone else.