[Thor]

Another thing to put on your list of things to appreciate...
as a hobbiest, with another means of making a living, most of us, in the medieval past, would have been breaking the law simply by having in our possession high quality carving tools.
The homestead tool limit was pretty much a saw, a hatchet, and a few good sharp knives...yes, they carved with those, but gouges, V tools, specialty tools were limited by Kings (who knew what was up) to the guilds of craftsmen only. That way, they could tax these folks for being skilled, and keep the simple folk from getting out of place.
We're all pretty lucky that we can speak or write openly and share knowledge when our predecesors accepted a guild system to limit those skills from being shared and as common as they are today.

I'm a big fan of Chris Pye's work too.

Oh, if you really want some inspiration...look up the Oseberg Ship carvings done over 1000 years ago!
http://www.vikingart.com/VArt/Oseberg.htm
Thor

[Thor]

Sorry, I sent the wrong link to the Oseberg ship in Oslo, Norway.

http://home.online.no/~joeolavl/viki...bergskipet.htm
Thor

[wade clark]

Wow! Those Vikings were talented, hu!
Wade

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Ya shore, you betcha!"

[kaiserb]

Think of the drag created when the barnicles would gang up and live in the deep relief cuts...