Two weeks ago, this sculpture of a Golden Eagle was not much more than a pipe dream. Since then, it is making slow progress and starting to resemble something other than a big block of firewood (which is where it almost ended up a few times already). With every chip of wood that is removed, the great raptor slowly comes closer to my vision of what is seen in the back of my mind. This roughing out process is the hardest for me, as I can't wait to start really getting into the detail of carving and burning feather groups into it's surface. One step at a time though I guess.

Golden Eagle Sculpture
Summer 2017

Tags:   WPDPeople

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After almost two years of work,(none of it steady)the Red Tailed Hawk woodcarving is almost complete. The primary feathers are in the works,but I wanted a photo of this hawk with some of the final color in the back yard.

Tags:   Red Tailed Hawk Woodcarving Basswood

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I have painted a lot of fish over the years, skin mounts along with reproductions and wood carvings, but have never painted a Pumpkinseed Sunfish. When a lifelong friend asked me to paint one of these beautiful sunfish for him, I went into panic mode. After two un-successful tries and subsequent stripping twice, I decided to try it using many ultra thin washes of color to try and get the desired effect. I was amazed as the pumpkinseed's beauty started to come alive as the thin washes of paint slowly accumulated on the surface of the reproduction sunfish. The Pumpkinseed's are wrapped up now and a pair of bull Bluegills and a pair of Largemouth Bass are next on the bench to complete. There is nothing one cant do if you look to your minds eye for the answer and around you for the inspiration.

Tags:   Pumpkinseed Sunfish Reproduction Fish Painting Acrylic Paint Fiberglass Fish Reproduction Washes Of Color Taxidermy

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It has been several weeks in the works, but I finally put the finishing touches on a reproduction Northern Pike for my wife, Laura. She enjoyed it immensely as it brought back the cold October morning when she landed her thirty seven inch pike from the Chippewa River in Northwest Wisconsin. The prospect of doing a reproduction for her was an exciting one, due to the challenge of a pike's markings and coloration. I dove in head first and covered every detail, right down to the blood vessels under the lower jaw. The undertaking wasn't as tough as I thought it would be and I look forward to doing another Great Northern Pike one day.

Tags:   Lake Country Replicas lakecountryreplicas.com Taxidermy Reproduction Fish Reproduction Pike Northern Pike Fish Taxidermy Fish Replica Pike Replica Warm Water Fish

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Forty one years ago this evening, the Great Lakes Freighter Edmund Fitzgerald departed the safe harbor of Superior Wisconsin, to take it's twenty six thousand tons of iron ore to the steel mills. The ship was overtaken by one of the legendary November storms that can whip Lake Superior into a frenzy. A storm of this magnitude hasn't been seen on the great lake since 1913. Shortly after 7pm on the evening of November 10, 1975, the freighter and 29 crew members vanished from the surface of the great inland sea without a warning. The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was taken to the public eye by the great Gordon Lightfoot song about the great freighter gone missing. This painting is my rendition of what the ship and sea may have looked like on that fateful night. May all souls that were lost, rest in peace.

Edmund Fitzgerald
November 10, 1975

Tags:   Edmund Fitzgerald Great Lakes Freighter Lake Superior Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald Inland Seas Gitchee Gumee

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