A bugling bull elk in the rocky mountains is enough to bring chills up ones spine!  I have always admired bull elk as one of the most beautiful creatures on earth!  Here I have sculpted one to my liking since I was never able to harvest one myself. The most difficult part of the sculpture is deciding how to carve and mount the horns.  The horns on an Elk are very unique to the region they grow. Genetics are only to blame.  The Rockies Elk have typical horns that classically drop back at the ends. Whereas the Elk in Oregon and the Cascades curl up and fork at the ends. The elk that I carved is depicted as a Rocky Mountain Elk.  Ive only seen a handful of Elk carved out of wood with very few of which I can Identify with. So Here I decided that the world needed one done right.

-Jordan Anderson-

“Chainsaw Carving Competition in Seldovia, Alaska”
This years contest was a blast!  6 carvers, 6 logs, a whole weekend of chainsaw mayhem!   I had just a little time to make a masterpiece and had my father Greg Anderson help me.  I had no Idea I would turn out my best sculpture to date.   I will be making a scale model of this carving out of spruce the same size as soon as I get the wood for it.  You can see the progress of this sculpture at my workplace in Indian Alaska.  It will be up for sale for $7000.  I also make whales of various sizes and poses.
The log-
Once all the carvers were done drawing logs for the competition, I knew that my piece was going to be special, but had no idea how beautiful! I started with the calf humpback whale then the mother whale. I had a lot of wood left to make a pretty decent splash or wave. “There was just something missing” I thought.   The next morning which was day 2 of the contest, I saw a Sea Otter pop out of the water next to a Seagul then I thought that is what I can do with the extra wood I have left “Sea Birds”.  I started thinking about past experiences on the water and the variety of  winged life that are native to Alaska in the summer.   The two birds I never had seen carved before are what I decided to sculpt a flying Comerant and Seagul propeling themselves away from the giagantic Humpback Whales! I then shaped the fins on the Whales to make it look like they are trying to fly as well.  Hence the theme I came up with “Flying Sea”.

When people come to the Great state of Alaska they have a thought or vision if you will about what they are going to  see here, like a dream!  When I first came to Alaska I dreamed of seeing the wildlife it holds.  From Eagles to Bear from Salmon to Humpback whales, not to mention many more! I decided to find a piece of wood were I could compose a sculpture of such wildlife. I came up with a few drawings and one stuck- a Dal sheep as the Highest in elevation fading to an Eagle grasping a salmon, a grizzly bear and a humpback whale at the bottom breaching from the sea!  So the theme decided for this sculpture is “Great Land Dreams”.
This sculpture is for sale! Contact Jordan for pricing and other info-  jordan@jordanscustom.com

It all started with my first Alaskan fishing trip in Cook Inlet.  We had a beautiful sunny day and wildlife all around not to mention a Great catch of salmon and halibut. The thing that stood out on this trip were all the Beautiful humpback whales putting on a show for the whole crew!  In one particular area we found a lot of them breaching out of the water. A mother and calf Humpback were taking turns rolling on the surface slapping the water with their fins, then breaching as if they were competing on who could jump the highest! I have a little video to show how I got my inspiration to carve this new piece “Inlet Motion”.  Whenever you’re watching humpbacks you realize that the ocean always has an ongoing beautiful motion and life cycle! This is a very Heartfelt peace for me since the ocean and carving humpback whales are my passion. There is nothing like my Humpback whales and I strive to keep it that way. Check it out- “Inlet Motion”!

503-739-2832

www.jordancarving.com

english open 2011

Some times people surprise me with their enthusiasm for the home team. In this case it was the Wisconsin badgers.  A Wisconsin fan Jim Keene was surfing the net for wood carvings. He stumbled across Jordan’s Custom my main website for shopping, bio, and the gallery.

He asked me if I could carve a Wisconsin badger for his porch.  I said that it would take some time for an exact copy with the scaling involved for a 4 foot Wisconsin badger, but It can be done.  He said lets do it, so I started and gave him progress photos of the wood carving in stages. I think it was a good choice to leave some of it unpainted.  “It appears that anything is possible when you put some effort into it” said Jim.  He really liked it.  I think its funny because I am a die hard Minnesota Gophers fan.  I never thought in my wildest dreams I would be doing a “badger”.  It was fun though.  It gave me a challenge for the winter.  I shipped it out to him today actually!

503-739-2832

www.jordancarving.com