Bob's latest carving

Many of you know that Bob does caricature carvings.  He is almost always working on one, whether it's planning, carving, assembling or painting.  He has a waiting list, and right now it's close to a year out.  People usually give an idea of what they want in the carving, or tell him what they are interested in along with several photo's so he has something to work from.
He recently did one for friends of ours.  The husband, Mark, asked some time back for a carving of his wife, and asked that it include her kayak.  Bob knew that a few of Jennifer's favorite things are reading her Bible and kayaking, so he included both in the carving.
I love watching these carvings come to life, from a block of wood, and part way through this one I decided to start taking pictures.  (I wish I had started earlier!)   He had most of this carved and was working on the fine details when I started.  Here's what I have.

Here's the body of this piece.  He does the arms and head separately, than attaches them and does a little more carving to blend them.

Here's the kayak, painted and getting fine tuned.

One of the things I love about his carvings is all the little details.

Here, he was working on a middle elevation piece, and was painting it to look like water.

Getting ready for more paint and assembly.  See the head sitting there?

Before he paints the pieces, he wood burns the lines.   It gets painted over, but adds depth.  The Bible has been painted, complete with red letter verses.

The base is now stained, and the rest of the piece is painted and assembled.  He put epoxy over the water section to add shine.

Close up of the face

Note the Michigan S on her shorts.  Mark played football for Michigan State, so they are big fans.  Also note the pink toenails!

The view from above...

The title plaque.  I like the way it ties together the Bible and the water.

The finished piece.  One thing I didn't take a  picture of is a little handprint he carves on each of his carvings.  The card he puts with each of them explains it like this:

When God formed man he figuratively left his hand prints on his creation. Genesis 1:27 says we are made in the image of God, reflecting his attributes and ways.

"By His Hands" carvings are the outcome of the creative gift God has given me. The mini hand print you will find on my pieces is there to give credit where it is due, to God alone.

I may be biased, but I think he's really talented, and I so enjoy seeing how each one comes out.  If you would like to see more, you can check out his blog, By His Hands. (which has been neglected, needs updating, but still shows his work!)