 
Thu Nguyen of Everett, Washington, won first prize for a second year in the row in the other wildlife category for “Couple Lizards on the Root.” He used hand tools only to carve this sculpture in juniper.
More than 200 carvers from across the country vied for a number of great prizes in the second annual Wildlife Carving Contest co-sponsored by Wood Carving Illustrated and Woodcraft Supply.
Grand prizes were awarded in the following categories: professional birds, fish, and other wildlife; amateur birds, fish, and other wildlife; and junior birds, fish and other wildlife. There was also a single employee grand prize awarded. In the professional category, two carvers won for a second year in a row--Steve Field of Cross Plains, Wisconsin, in the bird category for “Singing Chipping Sparrow,” and Thu Nguyen of Everett, Washington, in the other wildlife category for “Couple Lizards on the Root.” When deciding on the winners, the judges said Steve’s carving looked so lifelike that you expected it to start singing. The presentation on the carving on the natural limb and hardwood base contributed to their decision. The carving was carved, detailed and painted very realistically. Thu’s carvings made excellent use of the chosen material, and was very realistically detailed, according to the judges. The hardwood used for the carving allowed Thu to give the lizards extremely fine detail. The fact that the lizards and base were both carved out of the same piece of wood also contributed to Thu’s winning carving.  Other grand prize winners include Professional Fish: Cyril Smith III of Woodland Park, Colorado, “Golden”; Amateur Fish: Larry Stout, Ashland City, Tennessee, “Pisces”; Amateur Other: Tony Marta, Sacramento, California, “Night Hunter”; Junior Birds: Jonathan Macer, Columbia, Tennessee, “Blue Bird”; Junior Fish: Nathan Bierdz, Seymour, Wisconsin, “Silent Hunter” (also a People’s Choice Award winner); Junior Other Wildlife Christopher Visker, Merriam, Kansas, “Poison Dart Frog” (also a {People’s Choice Award winner); and Woodcraft employees: Fred Binning, Marysville, Tennessee, “Goldfinch and Vase” (also a People’s Choice Award winner). People’s Choice Awards were given to the following: Professional Birds: John Anderson, Bristol, Rhode Island, “Long-Eared Owl--Familiar Roost”; Professional Fish: George Marek, Westfield, Massachusetts, “Rainbow Trout Rising to Fly”; Professional Other Wildlife: Steve Field, “No Threat”; Amateur Birds: David VanLanen, Green Bay Wisconsin, “Decorative Mallard Drake”; Amateur Fish: William Henry, Hatfield, Pennsylvania, “Leafy Seadragon”; Amateur Other Wildlife: John Brice, Greenleaf, Wisconsin, “Elk Bugling”; Junior Birds: Christopher Musco, Hope, Rhode Island, “Old Glory”; Junior Fish: Nathan Bier.
Ken Bedel took home first prize in the amateur bird carving contest with this piece called “A Day at the Beach.”
An Abstract Penguin
In the Amateur Birds category, Ken Bedel took home the grand prize for “A Day at the Beach.” He said this was his first attempt at a bird, so he decided to pick an odd bird. For the majority of the body, he used walnut. For the base and belly, he inlaid the walnut with maple. For the beak and ears, he inlaid the walnut with padduk.
“I normally carve animal figurines,” he said. “I split my time half and half between realistic and 'cartoonized' carvings.”
A Day at the Beach is a ‘cartoonized’ carving of a penguin looking at it’s reflection in water.
Ken used a variety of tools to carve A Day at the Beach.
“I’m not a purist,” he said with a laugh. “I use whatever works.” For this carving, he used an Arbortech grinder attachment to remove wood, hand chisels, a rotary carving tool and several carving knives.
He roughed out the carving first, then using patterns he designed, carved out the areas he wanted to inlay with the rotary carving tool. He cut the inlay slightly oversized then glued it in place. After the glue dried, he gave it a final sanding to fit the pieces in exactly.
 Steve Field of Cross Plains, Wisconsin, took first place for a second year in a row in the professional bird carving category for “Singing Chipping Sparrow.”
An Open Mouth
Steve shared some information on the one technique that wowed the judges and contributed to his grand prize and People’s Choice win--the open mouth on his sparrow.
Steve said he started carving his birds with an open mouth years ago. He suggests caution when carving an open mouthed bird.
“It draws a lot of attention to the mouth,” he said. “People always have to look in the mouth and see the tongue.”
Because of this, Steve said you have to make sure your finish inside the mouth is as good if not better than your finish on the rest of the bird.
To get the realism in his birds, Steve travels to the University of Wisconsin to get exact measurements on key features such as the beak, head and wings. Then he uses good profile photographs as another reference.
Steve used power carving tools almost exclusively for his “Singing Chipping Sparrow.” It was made out of tupelo and painted with acrylic paint.
CLICK HERE to view all the winners from the 2004 Wildlife Carving Contest.
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