Creative Woodworks & crafts 2004-04, страница 71

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Editor's Introduction

by Marnie Whillock Stephanie Koibe made her first chips more than 20 years ago in a community education class taught by a janitor at the school where she was an instructor. Today she is an award-winning carver who creates one-of-a-kind song birds, game birds, and dolls.

Hailing from Owatonna, MN, Stephanie now turns pieces of wood into life. It only took a few years for her to discover that carving was what she wanted to do full-time, so she stopped teaching and went into the art world.

"I can't think of a much more fun occupation," she said. "I'm doing what I want and the idea of creating something new is exciting."

Stephanie's awards include: the "People's Choice Award" and the "Best Display-Fine Art Award" at the Minnesota Wildlife Heritage Art Show; "Best of Show-Sculpture" at the Owatonna Festival of the Arts; Featured Sculptor at the Minnesota Heritage Art Show; "Best of Show-Sculpture" at the Minnesota Heritage Art Show; and various awards for songbirds and game birds at the International Decoy Competition and Northern Nationals.

She learned the importance of using references for bird can/ing early on. After the first carving class she took, she brought home six loon heads and excitedly carved them all before class the next week. Her instructor was not as excited about the carvings and quickly pointed out their flaws, using pictures of real loon heads to show the errors. Since that day, Stephanie has studied reference materials closely and uses them for all of her realistic bird projects.

Her art can be found in private and corporate collections in the United States, England, Australia, Japan, Korea, Norway and Sweden. She is a member of The Owatonna Arts Center, The National Wood Carver's Association, and The Minnesota Wildfowl and Decoy Club. She attends a handful of shows throughout the year and is open for commissions.

The following are general bird carving procedures used by Stephanie: therefore, no pattern is provided.

General bird carving procedure

by Stephanie Kolbe Create a pattern. Always use a lot of reference materials in order to get the most accurate results.

Transfer the pattern to a block of tupelo or basswood, and cut out the shape using a band saw.

Rough out the carving using knives, chisels, and power tools.

16 • Creative Woodworks 8. Crafts April 2004

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