| | | Q: | What kind of wood do you carve? | | A: | I almost always use Basswood. It is also known as Linden in certain areas of the world. |
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| | | Q: | Are the figurines all hand-carved? | | A: | All of the pieces are carved in the old-fashioned way, with good old-fashioned hard work. I do not use any power tools other than a bandsaw to cut out the basic starting shape. |
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| | | Q: | Do you paint all of your own work? | | A: | I enjoy doing all of the painting as I feel that it is just another aspect of finishing the whole carving. My wife is a piano teacher and when she is finished teaching, during the summer, she helps out with some of the painting. |
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| | | Q: | How long do the carvings take to finish? | | A: | Depending on the level of detail and the size of the piece, the carvings can take anywhere from 1 to 24 hours to complete. |
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| | | Q: | How long have you been carving? | | A: | I started carving in November of 1992 after my wife brought me a book on wood-carving. It took about 2 weeks of studying it before I got up the courage to try and I've never looked back. Someone once told me "the only time you fail is the last time that you try" - these are words to live by. |
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| | | Q: | Where do you get your ideas from? | | A: | I get ideas for carving from everywhere. Looking through a magazine or watching television, you can get ideas from anything. |
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| | | Q: | What do you enjoy most about carving? | | A: | The most enjoyable thing that keeps me carving is the smiles that I see on the faces of people when they pick up their carvings. There is no amount of money that can buy that feeling for an artist!!!!!! |
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| | | Q: | What is your favorite carving that you do? | | A: | My favorite carving to do and to see is the TreeHat Father Christmas figurine. You can find it in the Gallery section of my web site. This is the carving that always makes me smile. |
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| | | Q: | How do I clean the carving that I just purchased? | | A: | The best way to clean the figurines is with a soft-dry towel. If you find that your carving is getting dust in the cracks that you cannot get out, I just use a soft bristle paint brush (a 3" brush is what I use). Use it gently and you will get rid of the dust. The carvings are finished with a wax coating so DO NOT use any cleaning agent on them. |
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