I've been looking back over my work, both in carving and knifemaking, and recognized repeated bits of Japanese influence. Its not constant, but it is more prevalent than any other influence (I think). Oriental art has always faxcinated me, I've spent time at Origami (Japanese paper folding) and Tangrams, a Japanese puzzle game. As a bachelor my pad was decorated with fans and oriental style art.
This little reindeer, a holiday project and blog entry, reminds me of an Origami animal. In Origami, imagination is required; my whittling require it too. The legs, the tail here in particular make me think of folded paper. The roughly triangular profile to the body is similar to many origami figures too.
I've blogged about my knives, you can visit one or both my knife pages on the right side over there. I was heavily influenced by the Kiridashi Kogatana images I saw on the web. Fishknife here is my one and only successful attempt to emulate those knives. There will be other attempts- thick tool quality steel is not so easy to come by, and sculpting a knife like this without heat treating takes considerable time. I've gotten my hands on a piece of leaf spring from a truck, stay tuned...
carving quilt squares tangrams
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