I started woodworking as a way of having something to do after retiring a few years ago and moving to Lakeland Florida, where I live with my wife of 47 years. My "shop" is very small, but then how much room do you need to carve small birds and animals? Carving for me is fun.

A lot of my carvings are birds. I'll see a bird in the yard or tree and do the research on it using the internet and try to find a pattern for that bird. I do have a couple of things I look for. The pattern must be of full size, and I have to be able to find good color pictures of the bird I'm planning to carve. Good color reference pictures help with the detail for the carving and for painting and colors. I usually make a pair of them if I can find good information on both. My carvings take anywhere from a few hours to a month, it all depends on how big the bird is and how complex the carving is. I try to put the animal in the environment that you would likely see it in in the wild.

The bird below took about 5 weeks of off and on Carving.

Below are more of my birds:

Jerry can be reached directly via email at jermarphoto@live.com .