santa clause carving and cutting boards

[Andrew Hughes]

This year i carved a santa from a block of walnut.The design is from jim shore.It was by far the most time consuming santa i have done.I added some progress pics in case any one is interested.I also made some 12by12by2inch end grain maple cutting boards from ods and ends left over another time consuming project.Merry christmas everyone thanks for looking.

[Mark Yundt]

Hi Andrew,
Very nice carving! I like the details you've included. I've done a bit of Walnut lately and you've managed some wonderful carving at a relatively small scale. I'm guessing the piece is around 7-8 inches tall?
There is a new carver who is starting to post that I've known for some time now. Her name is Susan Mattix and she too is a terrific Santa carver. She does them almost exclusively and has quite a following in many galleries. If you see her name pop up,, drop her a line and see if you can't get her to post some.

The end grain Maple is a great choice for cutting boards. Nice work.

[Andrew W. Thomas]

Very impressive. I am always amazed at craftsmen that can turn a block of wood into a sculpture using hand tools.

[Andrew Hughes]

Thanks Mark and Andrew T. for commenting on my carving.Mark i was admiring your work that you posted on the carvers forum.And your dulcimer that you made for your wife this Christmas.I like seeing new and unique crafts from wood.With all the members on this forum i wonder where are all the five star wood carvers like your self?I guess the road is longer than i thought.My wood carving teacher could produce amazing figures with just a knife.I better be quite now before i get squashed.Thanks again. Andrew

[Jim Becker]

Really nice work. Quite the carving, too. Classic.

[Ed Morgano]

Andrew,
You mentioned "time consuming". Can you tell us how much time you have in the Santa carving? I've never attempted carving but now that I'm retired I might take the leap. Beautiful work by the way. Thanks for sharing.