Ta Da! Here is the finished Antelope Gun Stock...designed, carved and painted by my very own, wee little hands.

 Here is what the stock looked like before I jazzed it up with my carving...

I removed the checkering by a magical process called....sanding. Ohhh. Then I carved a fish scale and floral design in its place. Ahhh.  Yikes, that's a lot of little fish scales!

 The back side....

Antelope gun stock

Here is the beginning of my latest gun stock carving.....3 antelope running across the plains. Actually, this is my "practice" carving of the design on a chunk of alder. I do so love carving animals!

"Growing Up Amish"

Is this blog post about my carving...or my art? Nope. It's about the book I just finished reading....one that has absolutely nothing to do with art, creativity or anything of the sort. The book? Growing Up Amish, by Ira Wagler.

I considered writing only posts that pertained to the "professional" side of my life, but then I figured...what the heck...it's my blog, and I can write whatever I want. And I want to write about this...

"Growing Up Amish" ...to me...was a great deal more than an interesting glimpse into the life of a subset of people who live such a different lifestyle....although it most certainly is that. It's the story of the struggle of not fitting in.....really wanting to fit in...and finally realizing "it aint gonna happen".   For a lack of a more interesting metaphor....it's about being a "square peg in a round hole".

And so...with most everything that I like....I probably like this book because I can relate to it. But isn't that the case for everyone...that you like what you can relate to? Personally, I'm really glad that Ira Wagler put his life story out there for the world to read. I'm glad he shared his experiences, thoughts and feelings. Get the book....it's a great read.


http://www.irawagler.com/

Elk and scroll work custom carved into this gun stock. This was a fun one to work on. I love seeing the elk wandering around in the wilderness. Watching them in rut up in Rocky Mountain National Park is a true "Wild Kingdom" moment. 

These are pistol grips for a 1911. The grips were originally factory checkered. I removed the checkering, and replaced it with the bear and scroll design.

Squirrel Gun

This was so much fun to work on. I custom carved this squirrel onto a gun stock for my nice client, Dave.