Monday, August 31, 2009

mortise and tenonitus



This piece of heart pine is part of a more-than-200-year-old timber from an old house in Virginia that I'm using for a larger sculpture. My dad had gotten the timbers to use in renovating and repairing his own house in Drewryville. Notice the roman numerals on the side, used by the carpenters to identify the timber for placement in the original house.

Gift horse

I made this piece with koa wood. It's mounted on a small block of sandstone.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Nostrildamus



This walking stick was carved from dogwood. The finish is clear lacquer and wax.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Working with friends can get squirrelly


A while back Catherine and I helped our friend, Mike, publish a story he had created for his children about a squirrel named Charlie and his friends. We enlisted the help of another friend, the amazingly talented Walt Taylor, to illustrate it. For Christmas, I carved Charlie from a piece of cypress wood Mike had. It now stands in his family's garden next to a grand gazebo.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Gate keeper

Emma just doing her job.

Arbor day

Catherine and Henry taking a break yesterday, just after we finished our new garden arbor. Next week we'll be planting some jasmine vines to grow up around it. (I built it from parts that used to be an arbor seat that was where the Folly is now.)

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Leapin' lizard





This walking stick is made from oak

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Po po Poe

A watercolor wash of Poe on a really bad hair day.

Emma

I did a little painting last week at the beach. Here's a quick watercolor wash of Emma, our nine-year-old Boston terrier.

I been to da poe house


They say Edgar Allen Poe lived on a island in South Carolina when he was a young man in the army, and that he lived in this little house near the beach, where we vacationed last week. And although we didn't see any ravens during our stay, who are we to say he didn't?

Monday, April 13, 2009

I coulda swarm they were here a minute ago

One of our bee hives decided to swarm the other day and ended up in the very top of our next door neighbor's magnolia tree. I thought that that was it (goodbye bees). But the next afternoon, for some reason they moved to a limb closer to the ground and I was able to capture them by nudging them into a cardboard box. As luck would have it, a friend came over who was getting a hive ready for some bees he was going to buy. Together, we took the bees to his hive and they moved right in!

Monday, March 16, 2009

The eagle has (been) sanded

My great-nephew, Noah, called up the other day and commissioned me to do this Eagle walking stick. I made it from the limb of a Mulberry tree that grew in my parents' yard – Noah's great-grandparents' yard – in Drewryville, Virginia, so it has special meaning for both of us.

Why only eight tentacles?



Here's a few better quality photos of the octopus cane, finished a few weeks ago

Friday, March 13, 2009

Turn left and go about 6,348 miles


You always know where you stand at Bob and Dellie's. I was there last weekend and drew this picture of the sign in their yard that tells you how many miles it is to Folly Beach, LA, DC and a bunch of places in Asia.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Carving with a Shih Tzu on my head

Do I need a haircut or a rabies tag? What do you think?

Monday, March 2, 2009

I've been itching for these hives

A couple of weeks ago we got two new honeybee starter hives. Here I'm transferring them to their new (boxes) homes in our garden. Good luck with this cold weather, bees.

Yes, I do windows

This is a watercolor done a few months back (when it was warm around here) of a friend's house.

Hotlanta? Not so much

I'm ready for spring.

Friday, February 27, 2009

This cane kinda sucks


This octopus was carved from a limb of a hickory tree in the north Alabama mountains.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Reigning cats and dogs

I know this isn't a carving or painting but, it's pretty cute. Huh?

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Detail work

With its tail repair and new finish complete, this walking stick is headed back to it's owner in Virginia.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Moonshine



Here are a few ornaments inspired by photos in Terry Murray's book "Faces on Places". (See Link)

Monday, January 26, 2009

Springtime Folly

I just ran across this photo of my studio, taken last spring. Man, I'm ready for spring!

Tale of two tails



I made this dolphin walking stick awhile back. But the tail had broken, so it was time for a face lift - or in this case a tail lift. Luckily I still had a piece of pecan wood from the same tree to work with. After a little sanding and new finish, it will be ready for another go.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

A dry sense of style

I made this maple wood bowl for my mother-in-law, Beth, for Christmas. I think she did a masterful job with the dried arrangement.