Ready and Able

This figure is carved from one piece of English Lime, which is the same as Basswood or Linden. The axe is made of three pieces of cherry wood and some brass wire. It is finished in Danish oil with a little bit of oil paint mixed in to make the darker areas.

This piece is a “WISH FULLFILLMENT” Piece.

My best friend, Ken Blakeney, died in 2001, at the age of 96. I’ve known him since he was 45 years old. He taught us kids how to fish and shoot and even how to make our own bows from a stave of Lemon wood. He said hundreds of times that he “should have been born a Viking, he was born out of his proper time.”

When I started sculpting I decided to make his wish come true, I have his face on this piece (and he tells me his muscles looked just like that when he was 20 years old). He enjoyed seeing this version of himself.