Finished! This relief carving in Maple is an expression of the joy I get watching the fawns born in our grow up. We had three this year, a single and a set of twins. You can see from the second pic how much they have become a part of our lives, sharing this little piece of land we call home. So I wanted to create a piece around them. It also celebrates the bluejay family that chatters outside my studio, and the dogwood tree we planted. The cottontail, squirrels, and raven also share this land with us. I'm grateful for all the inspiration and joy they bring into our lives and I hope I can be a good steward to this land so they will always have habitat and homes here.
Come carve with me! I'll be teaching relief carving at the Hatch Space in Brattleboro, VT on June 13th and 14th! You don't need to have picked up a gouge before. We'll provide all the tools you need in a small, intimate class designed to introduce the wonders of carving. I'll share how to work with wood grain, what basic tools are needed to get started and good simple technique that will get you well on your way to creating beautiful relief carving. So excited to share my passion for this wonderful art form. Follow my link tree for a link to the Hatch space and the class.#carving #reliefcarving #artist's woodart #woodworking #woodworker
The stairwell project continues, but my relief carved fireplace mantel is done! Well almost, Dave still needs to trim the bottom, but I'm tired of waiting so I'll share nearly done. I chose to carve Virginia creeper on the surround because my grandparents had it growing on their land and I miss them and their home. And my studio is named "the Wren Nest" for the pair of wrens who raise their brood outside my window each summer, so look closely and you will see them in the leaves. This piece feels loved and special already for it represents something remembered (my grandparents home) and loved, and something found and loved with the home I have here. It's the first time I've carved in Cherry wood and I LOVE it! #carving #reliefcarving #artist's woodart #woodworking #woodworker
I'm honored to be giving the Leen Lecture, "The Art of Storytelling Through Writing, Illustration, Sculpture and Carving." at the Bedford Public Library next Thursday, May 14th at 6:30 PM. I'll be sharing the stories behind creating my latest books, as well as diving into my recent work in sculpture and carving. Join me in the McAllaster Room at Bedford Public Library, 3 Meetinghouse Road, Bedford, NH, 03110
I'm going to be teaching relief carving at the Hatch Space in Brattleboro, VT on June 13th and 14th! It will be a small, intimate class setting designed for beginners looking to explore the wonders of carving. Supplies are all included, no experience needed. My goal is to share how wood behaves, how to work with wood grain, basic tools to get started and good simple technique that will get you well on your way to creating beautiful relief carving. I can't wait to share my passion for working with hand tools and the simple joy of working in wood. Follow my link tree for a link to the Hatch space and the class. #relief carving #Wood worker #workshop #carving class
The relief carving begins for my stairwell mural! Actually, this is a test piece to make sure I like the scale and color and design, but if all goes well, I'll begin carving the 16 panels that will ultimately become the stairwell mural. This is the fast flowing fun part of relief carving when I am simply blocking in a design with gouges, hogging out the background and smoothing it out. Next I'll stain the image with color and do a lot more detail carving. While I'm carving away, Dave is milling wood like mad, edge joining the boards and planing them to prepare each panel for me to carve. Stay tuned, this is going to be fun! And yes, a LOT of hard work. But it makes it doubly fun to share it with all of you! #carving #reliefcarving #artist's woodart #woodworking #woodworker
After the fun of just drawing on walls to dream up my stairwell mural, now comes the nitty gritty part of planning each carved panel. My studio is a sea of newsprint as I explore and draw. I want to feel and hear the garden each time I climb the stairs. There will be geraniums and climbing roses, clematis and apple trees. There will be goldfinches and cedar waxwings, cardinals, bluebirds, and chickadees. Maybe a wren in the Virginia creeper, maybe a yellow warbler in the ivy. Anything can happen. How fun to play and plan as I prepare to begin carving.
There is nothing more fun than taking a piece of chalk or some crayons and drawing on walls. Feels like being a kid again! But this isn't just scribbling, I'm taking a deep breath and being brave and starting my largest relief carving yet - a carved mural that will grow up the entire stair well. 176" long and varying from 4' to 10 ' tall it will depict a garden featuring plants and songbirds that live on our land. I confess, I'm just a little bit nervous about whether I can really pull this off. But the drywall is going off tomorrow so I'm committed! And I'm also committed to stopping more midstream while I work and taking some pics and videos to share this project over the next several months with you all. Wish me luck! I'm excited to share each step with you! #mural
It was a long winter here in NE and I found myself dreaming of spring long before the snow melt so I started relief carving my own garden in the studio. This iris panel is the first of 6 different panels I'm carving to build into a large chest. I'll share each as I create them. I know I've been sluggish on posts lately. social media! It gets to be too much for me sometimes, and I just have to take some quiet time in the studio. But I hope this little piece brings joy and peaceful spring feelings for you all. #reliefcarving #artist's woodart #woodworking #woodworker #carving
It's a book birthday for the Littlest Elephant: A One and Only Ruby Story by the incredible Katherine Appelgate. I was so fortunate to get to illustrate this big hearted story and to work with one of the most generous and gifted writers I've ever known. I loved creating art for these dear characters and I love Ruby, my favorite little elephant.
One of my favorite places on the planet is the Cluny Museum in Paris. I love every medieval artifact inside the museum, and the tapestries inspired my latest book, but what I love most is stepping into the medieval garden area. Today it is paved and no longer a garden, but it holds magic. It is a place of peace and solace for me. And a place of remembrance for those who come before us. I only get to visit occasionally, so I relief carved these wooden panels, loosely inspired by the Cluny, adding a garden and birds, my cats, and guardian dragons. I can't wait to make a frame so that these panels will hang together as one piece and mount my bedroom wall. It will be the last thing I see at the end of each day and the first thing I wake up to. Isn't that what art is for, to provide a place of calm and joy, foster a moment of reflection and gratitude. And to bring a little beauty in our lives. I'm looking forward to making more panels and wonder what you would design for you peaceful place? And I'll show more when the frame is done and it's all one piece! #reliefcarving #woodart #woodworking #woodworker #carving #mideivalart
Celebrating my book birthday for Beatrix and the Unicorn today!! Thank you to my wonderful editor, art director, and publisher, Atheneum Books for Young readers, for helping me bring this story to young readers. Inspired by my love of the Unicorn tapestries, a little girl named Beatrix wakes each day to do her chores in the castle. When no one is looking, she gazes at the unicorn tapestry and dreams. She finally sets out to find a real unicorn and with it, a promise of friendship and a sense of belonging. #childrensbooks #Illustration #unicorns #unicornlove
