I started hand carving in January of 1992, after my brother gave me a set of chisels and a carving book (Tom Wolfe’s Carving Walking Sticks and Wood Spirits) for Christmas. I spent several weeks that cold winter chipping away, and I was hooked on carving. My neighbor was a skilled decoy carver and helped me make progress with my caricature carvings. In February 1995, we assembled a group of local carvers and founded a carving club in central Wisconsin, now called Wisconsin River Woodcarvers, Inc. The group is still going strong today and has a very popular annual show every spring, and I am still an active member of the club.

I practiced on my own for years before I decided to enter carving competitions to see what judges thought of my work. When judges suggested that my painting could be improved, I took a class on painting techniques and learned to wash the carving with diluted paint, apply a special stain mix, and let the wood show through. Once I mastered the painting technique, I excelled in competition. In 2003, I achieved “advanced class” status for competition with a first place award.

After a few years of hand carving, I turned my attention to chainsaw carving and found a great summertime hobby and a natural extension of caricature carving. Today, I do unique chainsaw carvings of anything I choose–bears (of course), eagles, fish, cigar store Indians, turtles, gargoyles, and dogs, to name a few. I continue to hand carve as well. I enjoy working with cottonwood bark, especially carving wood spirits, sailors, and Native American faces. I also carve bottle stoppers, Christmas ornaments, walking sticks and canes, and I am willing to tackle most any idea presented to me. However, I always work from scratch–never from a roughout.