Carving found wood is the ideal book for woodcarvers who are looking to move beyond the typical store-bought block of basswood. Here in this book, woodcarvers will find techniques and inspiration for turning materials supplied directly by Mother Nature into stunning works of art.

The introduction to this book lays out the divisions in the carving world and the need for this type of book. In the field of woodcarving, artists use either lumbered wood that has been cut into blocks of an appropriate size, or they use wood in its natural form. The latter includes burls, cypress knees, driftwood and even stumps, and is the focus of this book.

The co-authors of this book, carvers themselves, have spent the past two years interviewing top artists in the woodcarving field who exclusively use found wood for their finished carvings. They asked each artist a standard set of questions so that the reader can make even comparisons among the techniques presented. They then followed up these questions with specific questions tailored to the artist and his or her medium of choice.

This information is organized into chapters according to artist. Step-by-step demonstrations of specific techniques are included as appropriate. Informative text and photographs describe in-depth the type of found wood used, where to obtain the wood and what tools are needed to carve it. Clean and beautifully staged gallery photographs show the artists' work.

In general, all carvers from beginning skill levels through advanced will find inspiration in the coffeetable-type gallery photographs presented in this book. For intermediate carvers who have some experience carving wood (found or otherwise), this book will provide not only inspiration but the step-by-step techniques and information needed for carve exceptional found wood sculptures.

Vic Hood is the president of a unique building corporation, Leatherwood, Inc., which specializes in historic restoration. As a restorationist, Vic has been responsible for the restoration of several presidential houses, national landmarks, national monuments and house museums. He started carving in 1991, concentrating on carving full-size human busts for which he has won 83 awards, including several Best of Show awards. His most treasured honor was to be selected to create a Christmas ornament for the White House in 2001. Vic is one of the founders of the Leipers Fork Carving Club in Leipers Fork, Tennessee. Vic studied carving under John Burke and Larry Rogers for several years before becoming a carving instructor himself. He currently teaches classes on carving the human bust at several major workshops around the country and at individual club workshops. Due to Vics experience in competitive pumpkin carving, he was invited to be the featured pumpkin carver at the 2003 Gentry Farms Pumpkin Festival. Vic, along with Jack Williams, co-authored Carving Found Wood, published by Fox Chapel Publishing Co., Inc.

Jack A. Williams is a commercial photographer working from his studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. Photography was once a hobby for Jack until he discovered he could make a living doing what he enjoyed. He then needed a new hobby, so in 1973 he started woodcarving. His artistic talents have been demonstrated with a third Best of Show in the first National Caricature Carving Competition held at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri; a Best of Show at the Ward Wildfowl Carving Competition in Ocean City, Maryland; Peoples and Carvers Choice and Best of Wood Sculpture at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; and Best of Division at the International Woodcarvers Congress in Davenport, Iowa. Jack also won first place in the Flex-Cut Tool Internet Carving Competition in 2001. The year 2003 marks Jacks 12th year to coordinate the woodcarving show at Dollywood, which hosts The Great Pumpkin Carving Competition, and to coordinate the National Caricature Carving Competition. In 2003 Jack was elected to become a member of the Caricature Carvers of America and is President and one of the founders of the Tennessee Carvers Guild. Jack now spends a great deal of time photographing carvings at shows and for friends, and his photography appears frequently in many magazines on woodcarving and other subjects. Jack is a co-author of Carving Found Wood with Vic Hood and of The Illustrated Guide to Carving Tree Bark with Rick Jensen, both published by Fox Chapel Publishing Co., Inc.