If you get a chance!!

[chipper67]

Hi,

My family and I traveled to Minneapolis, MN this past week. On our way we stopped in Faribault, MN which is the home of Ivan Whillock Woodcarving and also of Marv Kaisersatt. I know that if you have been carving for awhile and are serious about it you have heard of these two master carvers, Ivan does more of the realistic and Marv is a Caricature carver (CCA). Anyway, my wife took the kids shopping and I was able to spend a little time in Ivan's studio. Ivan's son Chris, (very nice man) gave me the tour. As it happen to be both Ivan and Marv were each putting on a carving seminar. It was just amazing to me to just watch these advanced carvers. Ivan's students were working on their clay models in preparation to carving in wood and Marv's students were still in their roughout stage of their particular charicature. As I wondered through Ivan's gallery I was just amazed at all the wonderful carvings on display. In one room were several of Marv's unbelievable one piece carvings. That was truly a highlight seeing those. Anyway, if you ever get a chance you should stop by they are very nice and are happy to show you around.

Just so you know I have no affiliation with the above carvers and I am not trying to advertise anything for them. I am just a hobbyist carver who just wanted to share my experience with you. As you can tell I was very much impressed with my short visit at Ivan's studio.

[Clifford_Parker]

I had the pleasure of visiting with Ivan last summer and am looking forward to going to Carv-Fest "05 next month. Last year was a lot of fun and with mini classes by artist/teachers like Joe Dillett, Marv Kaisersatt , Don Burgdorf , and Lynn Diel it is well worth the time to visit and take a couple.