Here are my latest hand carved wooden owls. I made them from reclaimed wood using various carving tools and painted them with acrylics. They are finished in a thin coat of wood wax (not shown) Tomorrow I will take these up to Edison, WA.
My latest wood carved owls.
This owl had a sideways view
This is the largest of the bunch.
This one has eyes like a barn owl. The design of the owl is inspired by European, Northwest Native American, and Oaxaca design motifs.
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| These wooden owls look afraid of the sander.... |
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| I paint acrylic in light washes so that it stains the surface of the wood, then I go back over them in thicker paint to add details. |
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| Here are the owls while being carved. I draw what I want to do in charcoal. I use hatchets and chisels to shape the pieces. Recently I switched t a rubber mallet, because the wooden one tears up the handles of the chisels. I'm self taught at woodcarving so sometimes I learn through trial and error. |
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| Owl in progress with flannel and clog selfie. Some of the chisels once belonged to my great grandfather Frank Swanberg SR., a Tacoma carpenter. |
Pieces of wood ready for carving into whittle owls
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| Various pieces of wood that I have collected for carving. The ones on the left are "whittle" owls |
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| Here I have placed them outside , before applying the beeswax wood oil coating. It will darken the surface of the wood and protect it from splitting. The smaller carved owl on the left is decorated using a torch burning process. |
