Knife Art: Tufted Titmouse

[deo-pa]

This woodcarving was done by Randy Thrasher, a carver from Lynchburg, VA. The detail on both the bird and the knife is remarkable; I really like the way he has painted the stacked leather knife handle. I own three of his bird carvings and each is a real pleasure.

Dennis

[kootenay joe]

Wow, incredibly life like !
Is the knife real or carved wood ? It's real;, right ?
kj

[deo-pa]

It's real;, right?

Nope, everything is carved.

Dennis

[TripleF]

That's amazing !

[jerryd6818]

That is absolutely phenomenal. I am gobsmacked.

[#goldpan]

That is remarkable! A knife that not a knife, very real looking. And a Titmouse that neither a tit or a mouse, nothing is as it appears Very cool art. That guy is very talented Thanks for showing that Dennis!

[kootenay joe]

"everything is carved"

I have never seen any art work that so exactly replicates an object.
Thanks for showing this. Does the carver have a website ?
kj

[deo-pa]

Does the carver have a website?

I don't believe he does have a website. Randy is a retired high school art teacher and avid photographer. He and his wife travel extensively photographing wildlife.

I learned about him some years ago when I did a project in Lynchburg. There was a fellow there who owned a shop that sold used stuff (guns, fishing gear, tools, antiques, etc.). He was a friend of Randy's and sold his work. I used to stop in regularly to look for fishing gear and over the year or so I was there I bought three carvings. You could probably track Randy down through the Lynchburg Art Association.

Jerry, thanks for lightening my photo; it looks 100% better.

Dennis

[jerryd6818]

You're very welcome. Thanks for noticing.

[KnifeSlinger#81]

Incredible craftsmanship! That reminds me of a local guy in tulsa that carves statues out of tree stumps with chainsaws. There used to be one of abe lincoln down the street I grew up on but it rotted out after many years, was there since I was a kid. I'll have to take a picture of one of his other ones next time and I'll put it here.

[btrwtr]

Beautiful!

[mgdelpriore]

Incredible detail WOW!!!


Mike.

[LongBlade]

Awesome ... I actually looked at the photo before reading the post and honestly thought the knife was real and bird was the carving... amazing and lots of talent there!!

[deo-pa]

I really like the way he has painted the stacked leather knife handle.

Let me tell you something even more remarkable. I didn't want to get into a long-winded description of the piece when I wrote the above in my initial post, but the knife handle is not painted. Rather it is made of different woods (hence the different colors) stacked together over a central tang. In other words, he made a stacked handle just like an actual knife!

If you look at the photo (not my original but the one Jerry lightened) you can see a thin black line a little less than half way up the handle. That is actually a place where the stack has separated slightly, probably due to some drying out of the wood. I feel privileged to own this piece.

Dennis