[Lynn O. Doughty]

Off to Tulsa today to see the Nature Works Show. There will be several carvers there, decoys and birds. Here are their names:

Dan Brueggeman-Songbirds
Gary Cooper-Decoys
Cindy Lewis & Mark Holland-Birds

Ever heard of any of these? You can check them out at www.natureworks.org

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Here's my show report on the Nature Works woodcarvers.

Dan Brueggeman, Henley, MO. ...He's a good carver and painter but no more than average compared with others I've seen. In a competition with a really skilled bunch I doubt if he would be considered. He doesn't have a web page but you can see his pieces at www.natureworks.org. His prices in the mid-hundreds are a little high for the quality.

Cindy Lewis & Mark Holland, Medford, OR .... www.lewisandhollandsculptures.com Very impressive from a distance but on close inspection the detail is mostly paint vs. burning. In a competition against the pro's I doubt if they would be considered. Their prices are absolutely ridiculous for the quality of work. But, somehow they got into the show so they know something or somebody!

John Strutt III, Mahtomedi, MN. .... Again, no website, but you can see his pieces at www.natureworks.org . Really well craved and detailed with excellent paint. His prices are way low for the qualty of work.

Gary Cooper, Wichita, KS......Antiqued decoys. This fella is a production carver catering to the gift shop trade. Sort of like Big Sky Woodcarvers. Nothing for the serious collector here. You can see his pieces at www.natureworks.org

A real nice show with lots of good paintings and sculpture. However, too much bronze for me. One lady had a piece still in clay of a flyfisher. He was standing in the stream with a trout on the line, bent over with his net in the water. A real nice piece. Unfortunately, it was missing a very important detail! The creel! Not being the bashful type I mentioned it to her and also mentioned that, as the action was all going in one direction the creel on the figures back hip would help pull it back toward the center. She told me that, not being a fisherperson, she had ask several people who were and they told her that a creel is no longer used as it's all catch and release now so she left it out. Maybe so, but when I think of a geared-out flyfisherman a creel is in the picture. I wouldn't want to pay several thousand for a bronze to set on my desk only to have someone walk in and say..."Hey! Where's the Creel?"

[Pierre]

Thank you for the links and the report........ and I'll most certainly agree with you. That creel is a part of the hisory of fly fishing. She was wrong and her piece incomplete. And the only people who catch/release aren't hungry.
heh...............

P