Artistic Creations in Wood
All of the below pieces are whittled by hand, using a variety of knives. Each piece is then meticulously hand sanded, using finer grades with each sanding! I then apply 3 or 4 coats of Tung Oil and use a very fine steel wool between each coat of oil. The pieces are then finished with a coat of wax.
On the back of each piece, you will find the date of the creation, and my TRADEMARK. The TRADEMARK consists of my initials in the shape of a MOUSE!!*G* For pricing each carving, I consider the type of wood and the detail of the piece.
I let my imagination take hold with the two butterflies and the dragonfly mounted on a flower. The dragonfly has a cedar body and basswood wings. The male penguin with the baby between his feet and the female penguin watching are made from basswood. The penquins are my most popular pieces, so I have a difficult time keeping them.
The Ark is now my centerpiece. It took me all spring to whittle. The body of the Ark is made from a solid piece of basswood with a mahogany "house" on top. I call this a North American Ark - no elephants, zebras or giraffes. Included with the Ark and Noah are two butterflies, mice, birds, rabbits, turtles, bears, wolves, seals, armadillos and one dove on the roof. All of this is placed on a slab of cedar. Wood used are cedar, basswood, butternut, dogwood, pine, cherry, Italian olivewood and mahogany.
Bears are a must for this area. Both carvings have several kinds of wood. The left bear is butternut on a black walnut base. The greenery is a model railroaders tree. The rocks are dogwood, basswood and cedar. The bear on the right is also butternut on a paper birch slab. The trees are dogwood, olivewood, and cedar.
I love butterflies so I have carved several. The piece on the left is a basswood zinnia with a white cedar butterfly mounted on a piece of Lake Michigan driftwood. I was able to do the flower because of a recent purchase of mini gouges. The butterfly on the right is made from cedar and mounted on paper birch. The copper wire that I use to mount the butterflies allows them to quiver slightly when touched.
Everytime I start a new carving, I am never really sure how it will end up. That is the case with this duck. He grew from just a plain duck into this piece. The duck is butternut, the base is pine and the cattails are cedar. The fish is cedar mounted on a piece of driftwood that we brought back from Maine last year.
This piece was inspired by a wedding we attended two years ago. The song for the father-daughter dance was "Butterfly Kisses". The house is pine. The top butterfly is whittled from cedar and the lower butterfly is cherry.
The basswood heron in this picture was my very first large piece. Also shown is a dogwood flower whittled from dogwood, which is extremely hard but finishes SO smoothly. The cedar fish and butternut dolphin are hanging on brass wires. The cedar waterbird with the black beak was one of the first pieces I whittled.
The magnets started out as a relief from doing larger pieces but have grown into an important part of my table at craft shows. It also allows me to try new designs that could grow into bigger pieces. I use two small round magnets on each carving so they stay in place.
This bat was commissioned by a friend for her son. It is butternut mounted on a piece of paper birch from Maine.
The waves are cedar with a Italian olivewood surfboard floating down. This was made for a avid surfer.
The oak leaves with acorns are one of my favorite subjects. I have made three sets but they don't stay in my hands too long before someone wants them. These leaves are basswood and the acorn are mahogany. The acorns look almost real, don't they?
Whittling has become a soothing addiction for me. Twelve years ago I participated in an evening whittling class where I made an apple, a penguin, and started a bird. Everything was then packed away for a Navy related move. Following three more moves and ten years, I rediscovered the bird and completed it. CAN'T keep my knife still anymore.*G*
My favorite wood to work is Cedar. I also enjoy working with Butternut and Basswood. Quality cedar can be difficult to find, but it finishes so beautifully that it makes the effort worthwhile. Thanks to our friends who were stationed in Naples for two years I have a few pieces of olivewood that works up beautifully.
This is my third year with our local craft club, the Blue Ridge Artists and Crafters (BRACA). I usually do two shows a year, fourth of July weekend and one weekend in October. Some years have been slow and others very successful. It is so hard to second guess what will be popular from year to year so I try to make a variety of new pieces for every show.
Click on CROCHETED QUILTS to see MORE of my work.
For Additional Information:
whittlemouse@charter.net
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