The Items I Own

Of course woodcarving is a business.  You create orders for others and create artistic work that you hope will sell.  The woodcarvers I have known that depended it on it as their sole source of income don't keep many objects for themselves.  Most are gone as soon as the cash is in hand.  As a result of this not much is left for family heirlooms  Luckily I was able to keep my hands on a few pieces and after my father's passing I was given a few by people that felt I should have them.

This cougar pipe was an early carving my father created as a gift to my grandfather which is probably the only reason it stayed in the family.  When I was young I would admire it sitting on the shelf in my grandparents house, I thought it was so cool.  Then when my grandfather passed away it was given to me because I always loved it and because my father created it.  It was carved in cherry wood which is my personal favorite and was actually a functional pipe.  I don't believe my grandfather ever smoked from it though.  It's interesting because you can see that my father was young when he carved it by the somewhat odd proportions.  Sometimes people mistake it for a bear instead of a cougar.  He was still learning the craft.  Regardless it's still a beautiful piece and certainly shows the talent he had at such an early age.

Here is one of the classic cobbler's shoes made 

by Richard in way back in 1975.  This is a left shoe and were usually sold as singles rather than pairs although pairs were made if requested.  This one appears to be possibly made from maple and is a slightly smaller version of the shoes they normally created.  It has that worn out look that they always tried to express.  He always created a great amount of detail in the stitching lines around the seams and nails in the soles, even a worn patch.  Often these were laces with leather as we see here.

Lastly is a cowboy boot made by Mike in 1995.  I was pretty lucky to get this one.  Usually they don't have such a stitching design or colors.  Normally the boots again have that worn look and stitched seams as we see here but without the design stitching.  It was originally given as a gift to a relative I believe.  This one was most likely created from basswood, then stained dark and then slightly rubbed away to give it the look of worn leather.  Then the colors were added with oil paint and it was all varnished to protect the stain and paint.

These are the only really detailed carvings I own.  I certainly cherish them and hope they will pass on to my daughters some day.  I'm always on the lookout for other pieces of their work.  There was an amazing relief carving of a wild turkey my grandfather did that I would love to get my hands on if I could find it.  Also a very special horse relief carving my father gave my mother for their wedding which he sold when they were divorced approx 20 years later.  The result of some bitter feelings.  Hey life happens.