Here's My Woodcarving!
by Michael Tryba
Hot Springs National Park, AR
My father was a woodworker, but I really never picked up on it. Mostly because prior to retirement,
I never had the room for all the power tools I would need.
We always vacationed in Branson, MO, and when we would go look in the few shops that had woodcarvings,
I always marveled at them doing the hand work. I bought a book on relief carving by Harold Enlow in 2005
in one of the Branson shops and decided to try it.
Through reading, the internet, and just doing it, I found I enjoyed carving. What I really like about
it is, since I use hand carving tools almost exclusively, I don't have the noise and dust associated with
large power tools. I carve in my garage just in the winter time, mainly because it is too hot in there in
the summer. I use hand gouges, chisels, V tools, and a Dremel type tool maybe 5% of the time for finishing and some
woodburning on bird carvings.
I have carved about 50 items since starting, mostly wildlife in relieve and in the round. I did carve
a Basswood fireplace mantel for my living room. I don't really like to paint, but prefer a natural oil
or stain finish.
This one is a photo of a flying mallard, 8x10, hand carved in butternut, with a danish oil finish.
I carved it in 2007, with about 2 years of carving experience under my belt. The barbs on the wings are
woodburned.
I completed this carving in 2008. It is a full in-the-round channel catfish, about 13-14 inches long,
hand carved out of basswood. I stained it with maple and then applied a satin lacquer finish.
The fins are also hand carved. The whiskers are made from quickwood wood filler. I gave the
carving to my son who lives in Illinois - he is a catfish fisherman and fishes on the Mississippi
and Missouri Rivers.
You can email Michael at
michealtryba@sbcglobal.net
.
Would you like to see your carvings in this column? We invite you to
SEND US PHOTOS
of your
favorite woodcarving projects along with captions and a brief history of your woodcarving. (Email
photos at 800x600 resolution.) Receive a $50 store gift card if we show your carving work in a
future issue!
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