Happy Independence Day!

Independence Day- 

Freedom, fireworks, cookouts and heading to the beach or lake; the 4th of July is the quintessential American Holiday.

We celebrated early this year by making some Patriotically themed carvings.

One of these is a classic we've done for years, and one is a new patriotic twist on an old favorite.

John Haley Bellamy was a famous New England Folk Artist in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries.  He created some of the most recognizable folk art eagles in the genre, and as such became the standard to be emulated. As a carver, it's always a challenge to make a reproduction of such a classic, while still allowing some of your own creativity to shine through.  And given that Bellamy's style itself morphed and changed throughout his career it means that there's room for slightly more individual expression than in just creating a spot-on museum quality reproduction.

Our version is (obviously) all hand carved and hand painted, like the originals, but in our most recent Bellamy Eagle carving we used 14k gold leaf, (hand applied and rubbed) to get a more impressive and iconic look, as well as an updated painted script courtesy of Tricia!

Next we focused on updating one of OUR most popular carvings - the 30" Lobster Wall carving.  We have friends and customers who are Watermen - from Maine to Fla, and one of those difficult and dangerous jobs is Lobsterman.  Working the lobster pots for the daily catch is so truly Americana that we couldn't help but create an homage to that job with out Red White and Blue Lobster.  Tricia created a paint design that emulates an early New England patriotic Flag (the Betsy Ross Flag to be exact!) and we think the final result is striking and a great way to celebrate American Independence!

 Happy 4th of July!