Woodcarver List Who's Who: W

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whitwood aka Marcia, aka Mush, aka Cahvah

I have been with the Wwwoodcarver mailing list since around 1996, not quite from the beginning, but close, and have been involved with the woodcarver chats, an offshoot of the List, almost since they started.

I started carving some time back in the late 80's, using nothing but a Buck non-locking (yeah, ouch!) folding knife. Busy with other things, including a move from New York to Maine, my family, and an alterations/dressmaking/knitting business, I let carving go for a while. I picked it up again in the 90's and it is now my full-time obsession/occupation under my "Whittlins 'n Wood" business. I started out carving Santas, certain that I would never want to carve anything else. Lesson here: never say never! I still carve Santas and wood spirits, but my interests have taken me to more one-of-a-king pieces. I also enjoy teaching carving...and drawing... in my home studio and at other venues. Avoiding writing all through college, I now find myself writing for Carving Magazine...go figure. Again, never say never!

I have a web page at: whittlinswood.com and a blog at cahvah.wordpress.com and I have a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whittlins-n-Wood-Wood-Carvings-and-Wood-Sculpture/21737249945

womeditor, aka celtcarver, aka Matt Kelley, Flushing, MI

One day long ago, in a place far away (well okay, it was in July 1991 in Estes Park, CO) I purchased a set of palm tools, a Warren #1310 handle, a blade assortment, a basic sharpening kit and a copy of Santa and His Friends: Carving with Tom Wolfe. That was the beginning.

Since then I have been fortunate to take classes from (or with) some of the finest carvers in North America, including Ivan Whillock, Marv Kaisersatt, Tom Wolfe, Harold Enlow, Eldon Humphries, John Burke, Pete Ortel, Pete LeClair, Carole Jean Boyd, Steve Prescott and Bob Travis.

Most of my carvings are in-the-round caricatures, but since taking classes with Ivan Whillock in traditional carving techniques, I have been working on more realistic projects. I've also been know to carve cottonwood bark and cedar fan birds.

In additional to carving, I am the owner of The Carvers' Companion, the Internet home to:

• Woodcarver Online Magazine, a bimonthly free on-line electronic magazine for and by woodcarvers, now in it's seventh year of publication
• World Wide Woodcarver Exchanges (W3E), a five year old series of woodcarving exchanges involving carvers in North America, Europe and Australia
• Woodcarver Resource Files, a collection of excellent reference material for carvers both new and experienced
• Woodcarver List , the first and oldest email list on the internet

All of there resources may be found at The Carvers' Companion web site, http://carverscompanion.com

My daytime job is at the University of Michigan, where I am a business manager in IT Central Services.

Aside from the art itself, the best part of being a woodcarver are the friends discovered along the way. Woodcarvers are some of the most down-to-earth, sharing people you'll find.

A more detailed biography may be found HERE. The gateway to my personal web page is HERE