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On Saturday, November 11, 2006, barefoot on a beach in South Carolina, in the company of my two incredible and beautiful daughters, I married my ONE and ONLY! The remaining chapters of my life will be lovingly shared with the woman I cherish. Salena, I LOVE YOU!!!  My thoughts, a little history and a never forgotten friend.  My carving story starts at a lakeside campsite in south eastern Kentucky. My oldest friend Ted (not that he is old, we have just been friends for many years) and I were camping. We needed firewood and the hatchet handle had just broken. I found a branch and carved a new hatchet handle (it is still in use today, over 15 years later). Afterward, I found a piece of red oak from a fallen tree and began carving. This carving became my first Native American piece. Looking back, I had always had a pocket knife (Dad saw to that) so it's no surprise that I would whittle. The whittling and the pocket knife have been replaced with carving and my favorite carving tool, a Stanley Classic Utility Knife. I had one I used for 12 years, but it finally gave out. My new utility knife is a Craftsman. It is not a favorite yet, but well on the way to becoming one. I have a lot of feelings about carving, here are a couple. I love to use wood native to this area. The softer, easier to carve wood varieties do not appeal to me. I prefer cedar, oak, sycamore, poplar and most of all walnut. Cedar produces incredible color in the finished work (see "War Paint" and "Spotted Warrior")but walnut finishes so beautifully. I also believe that my carving should take what the wood gives. I don't look for the straightest, softest, knot free pieces of wood to carve. I love to see a piece of wood and know by its shape and texture what I should carve. My work, "Eagle In Flight", is a piece of driftwood. I studied it for several days before picking up the blade. It was a curve in the wood (that is now his right wing) that told me this was an eagle. Most of my carvings have come from the wood and not what I felt like carving. The use of a knot to create a brilliant red tail on "Red Tail" and the heart of the wood to give him a glowing red platform to stand on is what it is all about for me. The drab color and texture of Basswood and Butternut are easier to carve, no doubt. The finished product lacks the drama and character that other wood brings to the art itself. I will continue to carve what the wood gives me and make the most of the wood's natural shape and beauty. Mr. Shakey guards the sawdust...  Meet, Mr. Shakey... He is my Rhodesian Ridgeback and another wood loving member of the HipShot Wood Carving family. At 8 weeks he was curling up and taking naps on a pile of wood shavings in the workshop. At 5 months old he thought wood scraps were teething toys. Shown here at 16 months old, he is now the official HWC protector of the sawdust. We think he fits right in with the rest of the crazy wood lovers here in the HipShot Wood shop. Update, September 2008, Mr. Shakey is almost 2 years old and 110 lbs of lion hunting hound. Memberships  I am a proud member of the following organizations and associations:
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