Architect William Heyer approached me on behalf of Bishop Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City to commission a custom, hand-carved coat of arms medallion for his new cathedra. You can see pictures of the overall cathedral remodel at Mr. Heyer's site: Cathedral of St Joseph :: William Heyer Architect

To match the rest of the woodwork in the cathedral, we used quartersawn white oak for the medallion and stained it to match. The coat of arms itself is basswood.

All told, this took about 115 hours to complete.

Click on the pictures below to get a closer look:

Making Progress on the Frieze

It came as something of a surprise when my dentist asked if I would carve one of the guitars that he had made for himself. Never had anyone ask me to do that before...

Mrs. Baker completed an impressive restoration of four, wooden statues that were badly in need of it. First, the Parish Patroness: St. Bernadette

Compressed air, a small brush, and a positive attitude... all important aspects of the cleaning phase of a total statue restoration...

All cleaned and ready for paint.

After paint, before gold leaf.

After 24kt gold leaf.

This statue that had been in the vestibule, exposed to UV damage over several decades, has been given a new lease on life and has been moved into the church proper. I think it is fair to say (though some might say that I am biased) that not only did Mrs. Baker "restore" this statue - she made it even more beautiful than it was originally.