Comparing apples to... apples?

A few months ago, Dennis Patchett taught a carving class at the school, so I thought I'd share a couple of images with you.  One thing that really fascinates me is taking everyday objects and replicating them in wood. 

Like this apple.

 Dennis carved this one and gave it to me last year - the really intriguing part is how he carved the "bite" out of it in a different wood. 

 If you look closely, you'll notice the "bite" isn't just a simple hole drilled and plugged with a contrasting wood - the bite isn't perfectly round.

 This is Lupe's apple below - I think she did a terrific job carving the bite.

 I've been playing with a new camera app in my phone and I find this one particularly interesting. (Thanks for the app tip, Susan!)

 In the carving class, everyone worked on a couple of different pieces - here's one by a student who works with animals here in town.  Her photo of an elephant's eye was the inspiration for her relief panel. 



 It's a little hard to see all of the wonderful detail she put into this carving, but it was simply gorgeous! She achieved the colors on the panel by mixing up some MilkPaint and applying it as a wash, allowing the wood grain to pop out through the color.  




Finally, Lupe decided to carve her panel with a logo on it - with plans to eventually turn this into a box lid. 



Here's a great video of Norm. Only in Las Vegas do you get to rub elbows with elephant trainers and magicians!