"Old and Improved!"

 I like to revisit "old" carvings that I have previously finished or ideas that I have did before and see if I have improved. Sometimes I will even recarve portions of work that I never really completed. I often wonder if I subconciously don't finish some things because I am not happy with a certain area and it will just have to wait until I can be happy with it? I enjoy the process of carving, of creating, of making something out of nothing, out of such simple materials. And I enjoy being able to improve my work, in training my hands to create what my mind imagines. And in training my mind to imagine, to challenge my skills, to go in directions that are new for me. This month will end the second year that I have been carving and I like to compare what I can do now to what I did when I started. My first carving was a wood spirit from a piece of white oak out of my stack of firewood ....if nothing else, I have learned to choose easier wood to carve by hand! This is is a similar piece out of cottonwood bark. I think this one has more of a realistic look, not so sad or stern

, more of a Santa than a wood spirit.

 

I am finishing a cane for a retired marine and then I plan to revisit one of my "twisted" Santa ornaments as a Christmas gift for someone special. This is a busy time of year for Santa carvers! Thanks for looking.