Monthly Archives: June 2021

Carving Book for Kids of All Ages

There’s a great kid in my neighborhood, Conner, who pops over to play with Chip, help stack wood, or look for fishing worms under logs. He’s also taken an interest in carving and was excited when I showed him Frank … Continue reading

Posted in books, carving, nature, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Carving American Chestnut 3: Foot Shape

Onto another stage with the chestnut bowl. Although a little bigger and deeper, the design of this bowl has much in common with the cherry bowl on the left. Same general upper outline, narrow side panel, arched top. But the … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, layout, patterns, proportions, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Bird Bowl from Straight Grain

Most of the bird bowls I make come from crooks, with the form following the flow of the fibers. In designing and making this bowl, I tried to achieve similar lines and a sense of movement within the constraints of … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, figure, finding wood, layout, patterns, quotes and excerpts, sketch, tools, trees, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Small Side Panel Cherry Bowl

A few days ago I finished this cherry bowl for a local fundraiser. It features a relatively narrow side panel below the edge of the rim that makes an ideal spot for some chip carving. I took a few shots … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, carving, cherry, finding wood, holding, layout, patterns, sketch, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 26 Comments

The Handcarved Bowl by Danielle Rose Byrd

Danielle Rose Byrd has created a helpful and insightful resource for bowl carvers of any experience level. The Handcarved Bowl covers everything from finding material, sharpening, carving, decorating, and more. Much more detail about the book, including the Table of … Continue reading

Posted in books, Uncategorized | Tagged | 9 Comments

Carving American Chestnut 2: A Full Hollow

Following up on this post about carving a bowl in American chestnut, I’ll share some photos and thoughts on the hollowing process. That cross grain trench in the photo above is something I’ve discussed in more detail before. It establishes … Continue reading

Posted in adze, bowls, carving, sketch, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Carving American Chestnut

The solstice may still be a couple weeks away, but the first day of summer for me was yesterday. I celebrated by digging in to a special log. American chestnut. Big, green, American chestnut. I carved some chestnut a few … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, finding wood, historical reference, layout, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 23 Comments