My Process

I cut and carve on the band saw, using mostly poplar, cedar and pine. Poplar has almost no grain, and is an excellent wood to paint. Cedar sometimes has patterns that make an interesting surface, especially for the whales.

Further refinement is done on the belt sander, and detail carving is done with a rotary carving tool. Sometimes hand carving is needed.

Basically, I feel I’m a painter on wood. When I first started long ago with the simplest toys, painting was a flat coat, stay in the lines, using latex enamel. And as the sculptural carving evolved, painting became more painterly. Colors are overlaid, rubbed in and blended for richer depth and subtlety. Latex enamel is the basic, with overlays of acrylics, some with reflective or metallic qualities.