My friend, Ron, gave me a basswood roughout for a cowboy boot and asked me to carve it. I wanted to carve something unexpected, so I carved a flip-flop as a light-hearted joke. I enjoyed carving it so I decided to carve more different shoes… That is how the “Lost & Found Shoe Rack” project started. I enjoyed carving shoes; they are about 3″ (7 cm) long.
I designed the shoe rack that also looks like a shoe. All three shoes are finished with Tang oil.
Flip-flop
The flip-flop is my favorite carving. I was challenging to carve and keep it both delicate and strong enough at the same time.
Clog
The project attracts a lot of attention from visitors to the wood carving shows. Several people told me the clog reminded them of clog museums they had visited in northern Europe.
One boy told me that the proper name for that clog is “Elf’s shoe” 🙂
Sandal
The sandal is finished with the dark Tang oil.
I am proud to say that the project won the Best Of Show award in the Novice category during the SCVC Show in San Jose, CA, in 2015. After winning with that project, I was told by the club members that I am no longer a novice wood carver. I was delighted!
This is a basswood rough-out that has started this whole story. 🙂
Leave a Reply