I started out carving birds and as the years went by and I became exposed to other styles. I saw the carvings of John Clarke, Albert Racine, the fish carvings of Ellen McCaleb and thought I would branch out and try different styles. I have started carving some animals, trophy style fish carvings, and I am even taking a class on classical chisel carving. Below are some pictures.
In The United Kingdom during the early part of the 19th century, fly fishing became very popular with the upper class. As fishing gained in popularity so did the desire to preserve a large or important catch. Earliest forms of preservation consisted of making a plaster of paris cast of the dead fish but because the casts were very heavy and extremely fragile, they never became popular.
It is thought that John Bucknell Russell of Edinburgh was the first to carve a trophy fish out of wood. John was already a well known painter and his carvings became popular with the sport fishermen of Scotland. Three of John's children carved trophy style fish and as it gained in popularity the craft spread to Scottish artist such as John Tully, P.D. Malloch, and London artists such as the Hardy Brothers. As taxidermy techniques improved and costs decreased, wood carved fish no longer were being used for reminders of that great catch. Trophy style fish carvings have started to become popular again with the 'catch and release' policies now in effect. People can take pictures and measurements, send them to a trophy fish carver and have that released fish hanging on their wall. Below are some of the trophy style fish I have carved. If you click on the picture, a larger one will pop up.
The first carving is a 23" Rainbow Trout. The second is a 16" Brown Trout made into a nice wall plaque. The third is a 23" Brown Trout.
Here is a 16" Brook Trout owned by a collector, a Rainbow that was purchased by a company and presented as a retirement gift, and three 13" salmon carved from walnut.
I have also carved some bears. This is a Grizzly bear working on a log looking for some grubs to eat and an alert bear that just smelled you. I saw a picture of a standing Grizzly bear stopping a school bus and thought a standing bear protecting a cub from your car would be a cool carving.
The next carvings were inspired by the Charles M. Russell Art Week in Great Falls. It is 5 days of auctions, demonstrations, and art sales by some of the greatest western artists. This is a buffalo and calf - the calf smelling a buffalo skull - and a buffalo hunter taking aim with his Sharps rifle. I titled it; "1882 Blackfeet Territory. The End of the Northern Herd"
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