I just discovered the amazing wood-carved sculpture of David Esterly over on the Dudecraft blog. The photo above is "in progress," but you get a sense of the incredible number of tools used and the gorgeous detail. According to his website, "David Esterly works in the tradition of Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721), whose spectacular cascades of flowers, fruits and foliage revolutionized ornamental sculpture during the age of Christopher Wren." He has done one reproduction work to replace a burned-out section of Hampton Court Palace, but mostly creates new works based on this old tradition. Really amazing stuff! Hmm, maybe woodcarving should be next on my list of skills to learn...
