The Gold Nugget Saloon

This is the first and largest scene I've done. It was completed back in 1997. As you can see in the associated photos there is a lot going on at the Gold Nugget. From Diamond Lil beckoning and newly arrived Cowboy to come up and test her brass bedsprings to the cheating cardshark reaching for the Ace stuffed in his pants cuff. Chang Li has the shirts all pressed and is making his delivery while the nester and his wife from out west of town are on their way home after completing their monthly resupply trip. The Banker doffs his hat to the Mayor;s wife while the chickens peck and scratch and dodge the traffic on Main Street. There's lots to see no matter where you look.

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One thing you might notice from the early photos of the construction is the disappearance of the Outhouse. While it was a neat little scene in it's own right I thought it was just too much for the overall project. It's removal also allowed me to square up the shape of the footprint which really made it a lot easier to transport and we ve carted it just about everywhere in the country. It now rests permanently in the Out West Gallery.

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Large scenes are fun to make but they take a long, long time. This one moved around the shop for over a year as I kept adding new pieces. There are a lot of small details which could easily stand alone, i.e., the Free Lunch setting on the bar. The leg of ham, the loaf of bread and chunk of cheese was really fun to put together. Even the painting above the door was fun and when it was finished I decided to add the transparent cloth over the lady as there was just too much detail to be Family Friendly. Oh well......I know whats under that gauze so I guess that will have to do.

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I'll go down and take a photo of the descriptive sign so you can see just who the characters are. Just remember, this was carved quite a while ago so I hope you'll admit that my carving has improved a little.

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Until then, your comments are always welcome.

Grunt Work

Well its plain to see just who drew the short straw when the days chores were being passed out. This guy is going to have a few blisters come sundown.

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I really enjoyed making this scene. To begin its construction I went out and measured my own post hole diggers and sized them to the character. I then did a paper pattern for the metal part of the digger and then cut it out of roof flashing. Once the two halves were put together with a brad the small digger worked just a well as the larger one. To make sure the digger fit the hands I carved the right hand as a seperate piece and then glued it into place once the digger was in the correct position.

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While it's out of sight in the photos the hole he's working on goes down into all three layers of the base. The pile of dirt next to the hole is just modeled Bondo. There is a coil of barbed wire, a hammer, a pair of fencing pliers and a can of staples setting next to the poles.

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I duplicated this scene later on and once it turns up in the photo file I'll add those photos to this album. Hopefully they will show more of the smaller details.

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Anyway, I hope you like him even though he's not enjoying himself. Comments always welcome.

Horses For Rent

This is the most popular group of carvings I've ever done. I can't really remember just how many but the ones in this Gallery album are the ones I completed prior to going digital. One thing you will notice is that while the scene is basically the same the horses are always different and some of the signage changes. That's important to both me and the collector as I want each one of my carvings to be original and unique.

Chief Broken Hand

Ouch!!! I had this guy all done except for the hat and the texturing of the upper part of the robe....then I fell off the horse. He'd been setting down there on the workbench watching me each time I stuck my head in the door no doubt wondering when I was going to get up the courage to whittle out his Stovepipe. After some assurance from the surgeon and a couple of Percocet I managed to do it but believe me it was no fun. The phrase "No Pain, No Gain!" has taken on a literal meaning.

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I think this one will be a really nice piece once he's painted and mounted. He will be standing in the snow with a dusting of the white stuff on his hat and shoulders. As you probably know I've done this type of figure before. The robe designs along with all the other bright and crisp colors really make a stunning piece.

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Lots of photos in the Gallery and your comments are always welcome. Oh.....and I had no trouble coming up with the title of this piece!

Getting To The Root Of The Problem

Back in 1998 I was approached by the wife of a Dentist from Oologah, Oklahoma who ask if I could do a carving of a Dentist. I said sure...as long as I could do it in an old west style. I also told her that if she gave me free rein I would do something special and that if she didn't like the result she would be under no obligation to purchase it. She did...I did...and this is the result.
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Before starting I made a trip to Oologah to find out as much as I could about the place. I knew that Will Rogers grew up on the Dog Iron Ranch just outside the town but other than that I relied on what I could gleen from the small museum on main street. Armed with lots of notes and a few photos I headed back home and into the shop to start the project.
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In the accompanying photos you can see the beginning of the construction of the building and in one photo you can see the cardboard mockup I created to get the scale of the piece. Once the building was complete I started populating the scene with the various figures and details. There is Will riding down the street greeting all his friends along with a local Native American watching from the walkway. Inside there is a poor fella in pain listening to what's happening on the other side of the door. Now I can't say just what's wrong with that cowboy's tooth but it must have the longest roots in eastern Oklahoma!
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I took special care to make sure all the details were correct to the period from the Dentists drill to the local calendar advertisements on the waiting room wall, to the adds in the newspaper.
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She had no idea just what was under the sheet when she came by to check it out but I guess she approved as it went home with her. Her husband was so thrilled by the scene that he went out and bought a vacant house across the street from his office and refurbished it to look like my building. A photo of it is included in the gallery. That has got to be a first for a woodcarving!
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Again, it took a while to come up with an appropriate title but I think the one I settled on was just what the scene needed. In sum, this was a great and fun project. Everything seemed to just fall into place. Hope you enjoy it. Comments always welcome.

Gabby Hayes

Here's one for all you whipper-snappers out there. I did this piece back in 1999 during my "closed eye" period. You can tell all my early carvings from the later ones by the eyes being just slits instead of being open. Don't ask why I did it that way.....I just did!

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Old Gabby was always a favorite actor of mine. He made his first movie in 1929 and his last in 1950 for a total of 191 pictures. He played along side of all the greats....John Wayne, William Boyd, Randolph Scott, Roy Rogers and many, many more. He was a character you looked forward to seeing and never forgot. I almost wish I could take my teeth out so I could imitate his voice.

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Just a couple of photos in the Gallery. Again, I sure wish I would have taken more. Comments always welcome.

Five Easy Pieces

This is my second scene, completed back in the mid-90's. Unfortunately, I only have three photos of it and they are basically the same. Here's a very valuable tip.......TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOS OF YOUR PIECES!! Especially now that we are in the digital age where we can store gobs of photos on our computers at almost no cost. I sure wish I had done that with this one but it's too late now.

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You can see lots of details in this one that appear in other pieces that I completed later on. I wanted to do a scene of a Sheriff playing checkers with his prisoner through the bars of the cell. The jailbird's hand reaching through to make his next move ties both sides of the assemblage together. The positions of the two players draw you directly to the action taking place on the checkerboard which brings us to the title. I always try to make the titles of any of my carvings reflect just who the character is or what the scene is supposed to represent. In this case I could have said "Sheriff and Jailbird Playing Checkers" but that has no real ring to it. After a lot of thought I remembered the movie "Five Easy Pieces" starring Jack Nicholson. Now it had nothing to do with checkers but it was a very funny film and that title was just what I was looking for to make the scene come alive. It really doesn't show up in the photos but if you could look directly down at the checkerboard you'd see that the jailbird is in the process of taking "five easy pieces" from the Sheriff to win the game.

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Just in case you've never seen that movie here is the best part of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wtfNE4z6a8.

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Hope you like the carving and your comments are welcome as always.

First Catch Of The Morning

Willy's the first one up and in the corral to make sure he get's the best pick of the assembled herd. By the look on his face he's already got his eye on a good one....at least he hopes so. He sure doesn't want another fleabag like he was stuck with yesterday.

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Again, like the Farrier in the last post, the title and the setting tells as much of the story as the figure. His loop is at the ready, and the headstall and bit are hanging on the gate. That gate is made from some old cedar fencing whittled and doweled together. I used some twisted wire to keep the gate and gate posts square and added a hook and eye also made from wire. The hindges were made from metal roof flashing, blackened and nailed in place with some small brads. Some crushed model railroad foam gives a few weeds and grass at the base of the poles.

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Hope you like him and your comments are welcome as always.

The Farrier

Here is one I did back in 2002. As our Farrier comes around to give the horses a retread about every 6 weeks I thought he would make a good subject for a carving. Naturally I placed him back in the Old West and considering that commercial shoes probably weren't that readily available or affordable I have him making his own.
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In the scene he is working on the last shoe...redhot from the forge. Two finished shoes lay on the ground and another has been dropped in the bucket to cool off. I researched the tools and anvil to make sure of accuracy. The two punches at the back of the anvil are for making the nail holes in the shoe and if you look close you can see his hoof knife in the aprons side pocket. There is another hammer laying on the ground which is used to make the nail groove. The anvil is held to a piece of very old fence post I found on our property by four horseshoe nails.....real ones. The bucket is carved and filled with clear resin and that shoe is visible on the bottom. I can't make out just what the word is after "RED" on the bucket....lost in the fog of my memory. Whatever, it is it's a fictional bucket company in Jay, Oklahoma.
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I really enjoy doing these types of figures as once their done they tell a complete and accurate story from a humerous viewpoint which to me is the whole purpose of caricature carving.
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Broken Wrist Update: I had my first session with the therapist Wednesday. She was pleased with my progress so far and once the swelling is finally gone I should make pretty rapid progress. I sure hope so. I was down at the shop yesterday and while looking over a pile of partially finished pieces the urge to reach for Old Reliable and make some chips was hard to overcome.
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More photos in the Gallery and your comments are always appreciated.

Black Horses, Dark Nights!

Well, while it might be a while before I can pick up Old Reliable maybe I can at least get back to my project of uploading photos of my older carvings.

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I really like these two pieces. I can easily imagine a wrangler out before sunup trying to locate his ride for the day. Old Blackie might be the perfect horse but on a moonless night he sure is hard to locate.

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More photos in the Gallery and comments welcome as always.

A Short Post!

I know I've been kind of silent these past weeks. My recovery from the 2nd operation has not gone as well as I'd hoped so I've been kind of in the dumps. I start a months therapy this Wednesday so maybe things will get a little better but it still looks like a long slog before I get through this. But....today is my 66th Birthday and considering that this is the largest physical hurdle I've faced in all that time I consider myself quite fortunate.

Again, in monitoring the daily hit-counter I'm truly thankful to see that you're sticking around. That helps!