Custom 10 ft. grizzly carving – Westerville, Ohio

We traveled to Westerville Ohio to carve this bear on site in the back yard of a residence. We used this sketch as our design reference…

This log was red oak and was 10 ft. tall x 3.5 ft. wide…

I started by roughing in the head working on the tilt of the head. Also, carving a space in the mouth to fit the taxidermy inserts…

OK! The face/ head is finished by burning and oiling. Now, it’s time to form the shoulders/arms…

Now, on to the legs and base…

Burned and oiled…

Next, I used expanding foam to fill holes and imperfections in the wood that would allow rain to get into the wood. Then, I sand and texture the foam and rub wood filler over it and reapply the oil on the raw wood as well as paint…

Here’s a before and after before the taxidermy inserts and after. Wow! What a dramatic difference!!

My daughter, Rose, helped apply the claws using epoxy clay…

My oldest daughter, Rebekah, helped me paint the final finishing touches…

After 10 days of carving, it was time to say goodbye and return home…

Don’t forget to check out this video time lapse of the project!

Thanks for looking!! If you enjoy these posts, click the “follow” button for post updates. If you have an idea for a custom sculpture or carved sign, simply click the contact page to get in touch!!