5 years ago, a good friend of mine gave me some really cool gnarled, somewhat rotted, black walnut logs that fell naturally on his property so I started digging in and found a piece I have named “Elara” hiding inside. Elara is a name inspired by one of Jupiter’s moons, symbolizing the idea of something strong, hidden, and transformative, echoing the power and beauty of a woman who finds grace despite her flaws. There’s something magical, or spiritual or whatever you want to call it, in finding a piece of wood like this and digging in to see what’s hiding underneath. Often times the most weird, gnarled, crazy wood has the most beautiful grain and figure hiding underneath. In most cases this section of the log would just be left to rot, not really usable for anything, but that’s what I love about sculpting wood. Finding the “flaws” and showing how beautiful they can be. With wood sculptures like this, I like to say “Mother Nature does all the hard work and I just help her showcase it to the world.” I think today’s society puts so much pressure on people to try and keep up with beauty standards and fight the natural progression of aging and this piece represents letting go of those constraints and embracing the flaws and cracks that happen over time with life and only seeing the beauty that lies underneath them

5 years ago, a good friend of mine gave me some really cool gnarled, somewhat rotted, black walnut logs that fell naturally on his property so I started digging in and found a piece I have named “Elara” hiding inside. Elara is a name inspired by one of Jupiter’s moons, symbolizing the idea of something strong, hidden, and transformative, echoing the power and beauty of a woman who finds grace despite her flaws. There’s something magical, or spiritual or whatever you want to call it, in finding a piece of wood like this and digging in to see what’s hiding underneath. Often times the most weird, gnarled, crazy wood has the most beautiful grain and figure hiding underneath. In most cases this section of the log would just be left to rot, not really usable for anything, but that’s what I love about sculpting wood. Finding the “flaws” and showing how beautiful they can be. With wood sculptures like this, I like to say “Mother Nature does all the hard work and I just help her showcase it to the world.” I think today’s society puts so much pressure on people to try and keep up with beauty standards and fight the natural progression of aging and this piece represents letting go of those constraints and embracing the flaws and cracks that happen over time with life and only seeing the beauty that lies underneath them

I named this piece “Kohola” which is the Hawaiian word for humpback whale, often used to symbolize strength and grace in the ocean. Fitting since the wife and I went on our honeymoon to Hawaii this year. The whale itself if made from black walnut, specifically the same tree that the last piece I posted, and the base is made from a maple burl that was rotted in the center so I cut out all the punky rotten wood and filled the center with @ecopoxy. I wish I had a more meaningful explanation/ story for this piece other than I just really like whales….but I don’t….i just like whales.

I named this piece “Kohola” which is the Hawaiian word for humpback whale, often used to symbolize strength and grace in the ocean. Fitting since the wife and I went on our honeymoon to Hawaii this year. The whale itself if made from black walnut, specifically the same tree that the last piece I posted, and the base is made from a maple burl that was rotted in the center so I cut out all the punky rotten wood and filled the center with @ecopoxy. I wish I had a more meaningful explanation/ story for this piece other than I just really like whales….but I don’t….i just like whales.

I named this piece “Kohola” which is the Hawaiian word for humpback whale, often used to symbolize strength and grace in the ocean. Fitting since the wife and I went on our honeymoon to Hawaii this year. The whale itself if made from black walnut, specifically the same tree that the last piece I posted, and the base is made from a maple burl that was rotted in the center so I cut out all the punky rotten wood and filled the center with @ecopoxy. I wish I had a more meaningful explanation/ story for this piece other than I just really like whales….but I don’t….i just like whales.

This piece is names “Zuri” which is Swahili for “beautiful,” symbolizing the gorilla’s majestic appearance and the beauty of the wood carving. This piece has a lot of sentimental value to me as it was the first wood carving I ever did and has been with me for a while. The gorilla is carved from black walnut and the base is made from @ecopoxy. 

This piece is names “Zuri” which is Swahili for “beautiful,” symbolizing the gorilla’s majestic appearance and the beauty of the wood carving. This piece has a lot of sentimental value to me as it was the first wood carving I ever did and has been with me for a while. The gorilla is carved from black walnut and the base is made from @ecopoxy. 

This piece is carved in to a rotting black walnut tree. It was done at a very good friends property as a practice chainsaw carving session…..actually the first chainsaw carving Joe ever did…

This is the other side of the same walnut tree

This piece was done for Penguin Ice Cream in Copley Ohio. His name is Ritzi because I asked my 2.5 year old nephew what we should name him and he said “Ritzi”

This piece was done for Penguin Ice Cream in Copley Ohio. His name is Ritzi because I asked my 2.5 year old nephew what we should name him and he said “Ritzi”

This piece was done for Penguin Ice Cream in Copley Ohio. His name is Ritzi because I asked my 2.5 year old nephew what we should name him and he said “Ritzi”

I did this piece in hopes that it would scare other birds away from my vegetable garden……it didn’t…..but it looks nice overlooking the garden….

I did this piece in hopes that it would scare other birds away from my vegetable garden……it didn’t…..but it looks nice overlooking the garden….

This is the 2nd wood sculpture I have ever done and is currently for sale

This piece was done as a gift for my girlfriend and manager Julie. We started dating in October of 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, which turns out for us, was a perfect time to start our relationship. That Christmas we cut down a Christmas tree for my house…..a giant Christmas tree….

This was the first time she had ever cut down a tree for Christmas. Since everyone was working from home and on zoom calls all the time she wanted something to go behind her in her office for zoom calls. Little did she know, I kept the trunk of the Christmas tree we cut down together and made this piece for her out of the trunk of that tree so she has a piece of our first Christmas together forever.

This piece was done as a gift for my girlfriend and manager Julie. We started dating in October of 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, which turns out for us, was a perfect time to start our relationship. That Christmas we cut down a Christmas tree for my house…..a giant Christmas tree….

This was the first time she had ever cut down a tree for Christmas. Since everyone was working from home and on zoom calls all the time she wanted something to go behind her in her office for zoom calls. Little did she know, I kept the trunk of the Christmas tree we cut down together and made this piece for her out of the trunk of that tree so she has a piece of our first Christmas together forever.

This piece was done for Stan Hywets “Fused” sculpture exhibit in 2019 and was purchased and donated back to the estate and is currently on display at Stan Hywet right at the beginning of the Birch Tree Alle