2011 Best Carving Design Contest: Chip Carving Category Winners

Announcing the winners in the Chip Carving Category

People's Choice

Mickey Hudspeth of Duluth, Ga., earned the People's Choice award with his Jewelry Chest.

Mickey Hudspeth created his winning Jewelry Chest from mahogany with inlaid and chip carved basswood ellipses and drawer fronts.
    “I like to make chests, boxes, and bowls that are heavily chip carved,” Mickey said. “I chip carved the inlays before gluing them into the recessed holes in the doors.”
    The chest is 20" wide, 14 1/2" tall, and 9" deep. Behind the two center front doors, there are four drawers. The side doors include racks for larger jewelry items. Mickey finished the box with six coats of spray polyurethane.

Editor's Choice

Roger Strautman of Woodburn, Ind., won the Editor's Choice with The American Creed.

The editors felt that Roger Strautman paid attention to every detail with his large plaque commemorating The American’s Creed.
    The piece measures 42" by 49" and is made from basswood and mahogany. Roger stained the mahogany frame and bleached the basswood plaque before chip carving to give the project its contrasting colors.
    Not only did Roger carve the elegant script and complementary border designs, but he chose an overall shape that accented the project and made a custom frame. All of Roger’s cuts were clean, regular, and well executed. It’s a great example of how to blend chip carved letters with a contemporary border.
    “Chip carving is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated,” Roger said.

Scroll down to see a gallery of all of the entries in the Chip Carving Category.