# Self-taught carving



## AkMike (Jun 10, 2012)

I'm living in North Pole, AK now, but grew up in Sitka, AK. Sitka is home to the Tlingit, one of the Native nations on the NW Coast. I was always interested in Tlingit art, but never took the opportunity to learn from the experts while living there. 

About 8 years ago, I had enough of wanting, cut down a small tree, bought some cheap carving knives, and carved this;







I didn't have an example to carve from, and knew that I had made some mistakes on the traditional form. Since then, I've carved these, a Raven feast bowl, and a small mask. The wood checked on the mask, so I carved a half mask as a learning/teaching project;
















Getting traditional wood (yellow cedar, red cedar, alder) is almost impossible for me. This is my last piece, carved from a piece of birch firewood. This is much closer to a traditional form. It is painted with a Killer Whale design. Now I've got a couple of bigger seasoned pieces of birch, and will be starting another mask soon.


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## rmount (Jun 18, 2012)

Beautiful! Thanks for showing the progression from your first piece to now.


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## Islero (Jun 18, 2012)

Beautiful!! Rep for your creativity!! Islero :smile2:


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## discounthunter (Jun 28, 2012)

nice work,skill.


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## kodiakyardboy (Aug 24, 2012)

Awesome, the raven bowl is spot on. You have a much more refined style than many of our local carvers. Keep it up.


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