PETER KAUNE

I have been interested in birds since I was young. Growing up on a small farm in the Issaquah valley in the 1950's allowed me to live with wildlife on a day by day basis. I later lived outside of the United States in East Africa and this experience increased my enthusiasm for birds. In the late 70's I stumbled on an article in Sports Illustrated magazine on bird carving which ignited a desire to pursue this farther. I met a carver who lived in my area named Tom Newell who opened my eyes to both the current techniques and the world of carving competitions, and thereafter I attended my first show in 1981. I have been attending shows and competitions ever since throughout the United States.

Over the years, I've come to value the friendship and companionship of other carvers as much as the blue ribbons and best-of-show awards. The part of carving I like the best is the act of carving, texturing and painting. When the piece is done I lose interest. When I'm asked how I can stand to part with a piece I've worked so hard on, I'm already thinking about the next project. I have recently returned to carving basswood, after carving tupelo for 20 years. Basswood doesn't stone texture as well as tupelo, but in all other methods I think it is superior. Especially with concern to the dreaded tupelo grain which has a nasty habit of showing up on finished pieces.