[windsong]

Hi
I did 4 more with the goal to do 10 in total.One of them is Birch it is a lot better wood to carve and has very nice pattern on the bark the other 3 are poplar.Thanks for looking.Carving and having a blast!!!
Vic.

[Eddy Smiles]

You're being paid piece meal, right?....Ha! Ha! Excellent work!

[Lightningbolt]

Not sure what part of the country you're from but that birch and poplar looks just like it could have come right off my mountain here! I always like to leave the bark on my birch walking sticks because of the unique horizontal pattern and the dark, smooth bark can be polished to something beautiful... plus the light carved wood contrasts' so well against the dark bark. My birch sticks always sell well but the skinned and well sanded ones make super nice sticks too. Love that birch!

Those are really nice woodspirits and I like your style a lot. That's also a nice "twister" atop that last one. Great work!

[chuckt]

Yep! Gotta agree with Dave and Eddy - those are some mighty fine woodspirits! Love your eyes. The style reminds me a lot of Shawn Cipa's faces, with the droopy baggy eyes and the hair & beards. I have one paper birch stick with a woodspirit face that I've done. Gotta start cranking out some more.

Well done!

ChuckT

[love2carve2]

Vic,
Very nice sticks. Love the expressions on each face. Love the "hat" on the last one. Great job on all.
Mary

[windsong]

Lightningbolt
I'm from a little town in ky.the name of the town is Hyden.I live in the mountain where till just afew years a go it was a dirt road.That should give you and ideal of how far i live in the woods Ha.Ha.Yes the birch is the best for carving the woodspirits and it has such nice bark.Eddy i'll take them how ever i can get them.Chuck i've walked our river banks for ever trying to find a good limb of paper bark.I think the bark looks great on the paper bark.Mary I try to make each face diffrent the hat just worked out that way!!!
Vic.

[Banjo]

Vic, the facest on those sticks are just wonderful! Love the baggy eyes and the nice, pronounced noses. I agree, the contrast between the bark and the actual carving is really a nice look! I like those sticks!

[bbeery]

Can you give me a better description of what type of birch or do you have a botanical name? I've never seen birch with such dark bark. Great job on the woodsprits, I really like your technique.

[Joy]

Very nice, Vic. The top hat stick was a great find.

[AlArchie]

Bill, when you get out in the woods, check in the birch stands for young saplings.....look for the leaves, as the saplings look almost like cherry. The white paper like bark doesn't show up till the trees are about 2 1/2" in diameter. The yellow birch is even harder to distinguis because the bark doesn't get that gold metalic look til even later.

Easiest way to distinguish the birch is to find an older sapling that has started to get the white bark, and it will still have the darker young bark on the smaller diameter parts.

Untill either do the morph on the bark, it is a dark brown and quite shiny, but there will already be some lighter colored horizontal raised bars around the circumference of the stick.

Al