Carving Found Wood: 10 Top Carvers Share Techniques and Inspirations for One-of-a-Kind Driftwood, Bark and Other Natural Form Pieces (Fox Chapel Publishing) Galleries and Tips from Woodcarving Artists

Create beautiful carvings from natural materials! Stunning galleries of finished work from today’s top woodcarvers, including Carole Jean Boyd, John Burke, Jim Wright, and many others Step-by-step project with close-up photos for 96 individual steps of the process Artists’ tips from master woodcarvers, with their preferred tools and techniques Endless inspiration for carving Green Men, animals, wood spirits, fairy buildings, and more in found wood Move beyond typical store-bought materials to see what Mother Nature can provide! Inside this 96-page book, you will meet some of our nation’s most acclaimed artists that specialize in carving driftwood, burls, cypress knees, and other forms of weathered wood–commonly known as found wood. Explore an amazing gallery of finished work from talented carvers Marshal Artime, Carole Jean Boyd, John Burke, Debbe Edwards, Gary Falin, Rick Jensen, Renee Manning, David Neener, Jack Portice, and Jim Wright. After seeing all their incredible creations, you’ll never look at a tree the same way again! The co-authors of this book, Vic Hood and Jack A. Williams, both carvers themselves, spent two years interviewing top artists in the woodcarving field who exclusively use found wood for their finished carvings. Learn the secrets of remarkable carving direct from the artists, with personal insights into their art, inspirations, and techniques. You’ll learn what each artist looks for when foraging wood, what tools they use, tips for finishing, and so much more. You’ll also be led step-by-step through an entire 96-step project, find helpful information about acquiring found wood, and learn finishing techniques. A photographic essay about found wood carving and the potential of the medium to create art, Carving Found Wood is the ideal book for woodcarvers who are ready to move beyond the typical store-bought block of basswood. Dead falls of bristle cone pine or western juniper, cottonwood bark, slabwood, stumps, and cypress knees can all be turned into stunning works of art, with their natural beauty providing shape and inspiration for an artist. A twisted trunk becomes a swimming turtle; a rough piece of bark becomes a watchful cougar. The wood itself guides the artist’s hands and the project does not start in the workshop, but in nature. In the field of woodcarving, artists use either lumbered wood that has been cut into blocks of an appropriate size, or they use wood in its natural form. Explore the beauty that can be found in natural materials, with Carving Found Wood! “Sometimes the wood tells you what is going to happen.” –Jim Wright