Cinco de Mayo plaque

Here's this year's Cinco de Mayo gift for our friends at John's Tex Mex Eatery, in Rochester. I started with a craft store plaque, with the idea of a coat-of-arms. I think it came out pretty well.

Dungeon Delving Dudes

This little wizard has me thinking about a little carving project: The Adventuring Party. In classic tabletop Dungeons & Dragons form, I think I'll start with a group of four. Wizard, Fighter, Cleric, and Thief (aka rogue, for the "newer editions)

Cthulu mini-idol, hand carved in basswood

H.P. Lovecraft is second only to Poe as America's greatest writer of horror. In his story The Call of Cthulu, mankind faces a maddening truth of ultimate destruction in the form of nightmare beings from beyond time and space. The herald of these beings is the dread Cthulu.

In this and other stories, HPL describes the appearance of idols to Cthulu, found among doomsday cultists or clutched in the hands of the dead. I carved this with these stories in mind.

Mustache Mixing Spoons

Some mustache mixing spoons. Perfect for any mustache recipie!

Candlestick Wizards, carved into old textile spools

Here's some of my latest whittlins, a pair of wizards carved into old industrial textile spools.

The spools are hollow, so I carved the wizards in very low relief to prevent breaking through. The candlesticks are finished with a coat of clear shellac.

Beer tap handles for the Olde Brick House brewery

Tap handles should be comfortable, sturdy, and attractive to look at. They should also represent something, be it a specific beer, a brewery, a bar or restaraunt, or a private homebrewer's label. I think I've accomplished those goals with these two custom-made tap handles.

These were made as a Christmas gift. The recipient is a homebrewer, and names his label "Olde Brick House Brewery" after the colonial red brick building he calls home. That set the theme for both taps, and I sketched out some ideas on my notepad.

One handle would be reminescent of brick, with a flat circle on top showing a large hop bud carved in relief.

The second tap handle has a little brick house, carved in the round, and painted red with a green door. Both handles are fixed with a brass ferrule in order to attach them to the tap system.

This was a great project, and one that I'm proud to have completed.

Red Dala horse with champagne bubbles

I really like the traditional Dala horse. This one shows it's "whittle marks," the cuts left by a good sharp blade. The color is red acrylic with blue and white champagne bubbles.