Chrysalis Carvings

Hello! Thanks for visiting my site. I’m Jonathan Leach, and I’m a woodcarver in Augusta, Maine. The name “Chrysalis Carvings” reflects my belief that each block of wood holds hidden beauty, like the cocoon holds the unseen beauty of the butterfly.

If you like what you see here and have questions or comments, shoot me a message at chrysaliscarvings@gmail.com.

I am accepting commissions on a limited basis. If you are traveling in Maine, or lucky enough to live here, I have pieces for sale at Handworks Gallery in Blue Hill and at Monkitree in Gardiner.

https://handworksgallery.org/

http://www.monkitree.com/

Here are a few of my carvings:

“Tern, Tern, Tern, Again”

I am honored that this carving won Best of Show and Best of Level at the Maine Wood Carvers Association’s 2022 Show and Competition. I got the inspiration for this carving while watching a flock of terns diving for fish off the shore of Isle au Haut. At 48″ long and 18″ wide, this is the largest piece I have ever done.

“Gray Seal”

Also inspired by a martime adventure, this gray seal was inspired while watching gray seals bask in the sun in this banana pose while sea kayaking off the coast of Grand Manan Island.

“Yin and Yang”

This pair of river otters was carved out of a very old and quite dense piece of butternut. They left my house to go live in Alaska. I used the brass powder and epoxy technique described in “Kintsugi” (below) to fill some natural worm holes in the wood, which created a pleasing contrast.

“Breaching Humpback”

This humpback in butternut is one of my favorite pieces. The piece of dry-ki that I mounted it on complements the curves of the whale nicely and evokes the natural wave motion that a breaching humpback would create.

This piece was awarded several blue ribbons in competition, and won the Best of Level at the Intermediate Level at the statewide Maine Wood Carvers Association 2019 show in Poland, ME.

“Carcharodon”

I usually either make half-mounts carvings (like this Great White) so that they can be hung flush on the wall or mount them on driftwood. For this carving, I opened it up to voting on my Facebook page with three options: flush mount, driftwood, or the shown finished piece, which is about 14” long. Obviously, I went with the popular vote, which was a novel approach for me. It does highlight the more lightly figured butternut nicely, I think.

Mrs. Shagoury’s Kindergarten Class

One of my best carving experiences ever was being asked to go my friend’s kindergarten class and do a lesson on ‘construction’. We talked about planning a design, choosing woods, using tools, and a lot of other fun things. The high point was when I was leaving, one little announced that it ‘was a very good lesson…the best ever!’

The low point, in hindsight, was that it was the last day of school for these kids in school year 2019-2020, due to the pandemic.

“Ishmael II”

This variation of the ever-popular sperm whale has less motion than its tail-raising predecessor below but has some really nice spalting to give it character. This piece is made from linden and finished with tung oil and hand-rubbed wax.

“Kintsugi”

This is another one of my favorites, for several reasons. One is the back story behind the wood itself: this is carved from a piece of European linden, also known as limewood. The tree was shipped from England in 1882 and planted at a home in Falmouth Foreside by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. When it was felled by a storm in 2017, carver John Bryan salvaged the wood, and I was lucky to get a few pieces of it. 

I thought the wood was stable when I started this piece three years later, but it started to develop some serious checking. Rather than abandon the piece (a process known as “chucking it in the woodstove”), I decided to repair it using a modification of the Japanese technique of kintsugi, where they repair broken pottery with gold. The repaired piece is an example of wabi-sabi aesthetics, drawing attention to the flaws to appreciate the beauty in something that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. In this case, I repaired the cracks with a mixture of brass powder and epoxy.

My hope is that someone looking at this page will be inspired to start carving themselves. A good first project is this little comfort bird. I have made quite a few. I give them to friends who are ill or have suffered a loss, to remind them that someone is always with them. I’ve shown the basic steps above. All you need is a good sharp knife, a smooth-grained piece of wood (basswood or butternut are excellent for beginners), and a lot of patience. Take your time, and keep looking at what you’ve done and where you need to go next. A lot of a good finished work is the sanding and finishing. Sand with a rough grit first, then work up to a 400 grit. You’ll know it’s right when it feels smooth and comforting in your hand. I then seal the work with boiled linseed oil, then furniture wax.

“Manta Man”

This piece in European linden (“limewood”) was my first experience with the wood from the Olmsted tree in Falmouth (see the entry about “Kintsugi” above, and I was experimenting with how thin I could get the wood on the pectoral fins and the tail. I really like the graceful motion on the fins, which are really very, very thin. Limewood is very fine-grained and works well. What it lacks in figuring of the grain it makes up for in strength.

Trivia for carvers: Most of the incredible work of Dutch-British carver Grinling Gibbons was done in limewood, for its fine, dense grain. Why American linden is “basswood” but European linden is “limewood” is not yet known to me.

“Passport to Greenville”

I received a cold call from the producer of the tremendously popular TV series “Maine Cabin Masters” asking if I knew anyone who made custom carved beer taps. Based on my experience making the taps shown elsewhere on this page for my wife’s cousin, I quoted Obi-Wan Kenobi: “Of course I do. He’s me.”

This tap features the requested moose (I have to be careful to avoid copyright infringement by referring to a moosehead beer tap), Mount Kineo, and the old camp, before the Maine Cabin Master did their makeover. It also has the obligatory Moosehead Lake loon. I got to meet Ashley, the show’s design expert, when she came to our house for the filming. It was great fun, and I got my 15 seconds of fame on national TV! The episode is Season 4, Episode 406 if you want to see me “in person.”

Maine State Museum Carving Demonstration

The Maine Wood Carvers Association held a demonstration at the Maine State Museum in 2019. The tei-in was that we use the same tools in our work today tha are featured in many of the displays throughout the museum, from the ship carpenter’s tool chest to the musket building display to the cabinetmaker’s shop. In all of those places and others, you’ll find chisels, gouges, knives, spokeshaves, and drawknives. The kids liked seeing the tools; one unexpected area of interest from the woodworkers who came was my “shaving pony”; the benchtop shaving horse in the last picture. That got photographed a lot. It is with some pride that I recall that one young mom who was there commented to her son that “his forearms are as big as your thighs.” A trifle breathily, I thought.

“Gimme a Boost”

For this mother and calf gray whale pair, I experimented with a gray stain instead of leaving it more natural. Generally, I use finishes that let more of the grain show through, and I achieved that here by using steel wool to remove a good deal of the stain after it dried, then waxing it. I think the finished piece has more of an antiqued look that way.

“Otter Triquetra”

English carver Bill Prickett has provided me inspiration for many of the carvings of otters I have done. His work is simply amazing. This deep relief carving in cottonwood bark is my homage to three of his otter ‘in the round’ carvings, in one design.

“Frame Cats”

During family Zoom call (I hope that soon, this phrase will have no meaning once again), one of my wife’s cousins had some cat silhouettes sitting on picture frames in the background. These were pretty simple black scrollsaw cutouts, and I thought, “Hey, I can improve on that design!” So I did. These have been my bestseller at the artisan’s store where I have my work.

“Spatoons”

I don’t know if that’s the right word. Maybe they are spoonulas. Anyway, a friend asked me if I could replicate an old favorite kitchen utensil that had come to the end of its useful life. These are made out of cherry and Osage orange. I took the liberty of changing the design a little. These are finished with mineral oil, so they are safe for cooking.

The picture on the right is another special request; this is a doughnut turner. My mom had one of these, and an old friend asked if I could make one for her. I have fond memories of my mom boiling the donuts in fat and turning them until they were golden brown. This is made of applewood and also features what I hope are design improvements.

“The Turgid Sturgeon”

The microbrewery scene up north here in Maine is thriving. In a lot of places, the breweries have become little community centers, where friends gather and families are welcomed. We have over 150 breweries now (check out the Maine Brewer’s Guild for a handy mapping feature for planning your next trip!)

One of our favorites is Cushnoc Brewing in Augusta. Not only do they make a good beer, they make great pizza (If you’re ever there, the hollow log with their logo that serves as pizza stand by the wood-fired oven is my work.)

They have also hosted an annual Pinewood Derby for grown-ups. Knowing that I would never win the speed competition, I went for design honors and this car won first place the first year of the derby, later becoming a beer tap during subsequent years. My second entry, the Illuminated Enterprise, only took second place. See, carving can be fun!

“Otterly Swept Away”

A fun piece made out of a piece of scrap basswood, trying to get a feel for otters in motion. I ended up staining this a dark, hopefully otter-like color, also as an experiment. I put three coats of spar vanish over the stain to give it a permanently wet look. The picture are from the store in Gardiner where my works are currently for sale. Please visit Monkitree; Clare is wicked nice and there’s a lot of great work for sale there.

“Three Amigos”

These three dolphins are always a reminder for me that judges in woodcarving competitions always apply their own idiosyncratic standards to the work they are viewing. In this case, I was critiqued because the tails were not all the same (which I had done quite consciously, as they are at different points in their leap) and because I choose the leave the eyes out. The judge seemed to think I had forgotten that dolphins have eyes. Since these are stylized dolphins, I left the blowholes and cloaca out, too. 

“Magick”

Another fun thing I have done a couple of times is make wands for young Harry Potter fans. These were for my wife’s nieces and were made of applewood finished with silver wire and magical symbols.

A fun project to get kids interested in carving would be a ‘carve your own wand’ workshop with spokeshaves and knives. 

“George and Gracie”

Humpbacks in basswood, mounted on driftwood. This was my second work with marine mammals. Trekkies will recognize that the name comes from Star Trek: The Voyage Home. I am trying to capture the whales in motion, from the fins to the flukes. In each carving, I learn something about the anatomy of the species. In this case, I learned a lot about the ventral pleats in rorquals.

(The background is the Kennebec River near my home. So far as I know, we have no humpbacks here. But you should see the sturgeon breeching during mating season! Hmmm…sturgeon…)

“Old Crow Anniversary Show”

I made this for my in-laws on the event of their 50th wedding anniversary. The crow is basswood (a.k.a. linden) with an ebony stain, finished with spar varnish. Roger and Cathy have a family of crows in their backyard in Houlton that they enjoy feeding and watching. I have learned a lot about crow behavior from them. Here, I’m trying to capture the way they hop with their wings out when they’re feeding. The stain/varnish makes a deep gloss evocation of the shine of their feathers, and brings out the grain of the wood nicely.

(This was one of my early attempts to take better photos, with a simple home setup. Still working on the photography part!)

“Bastet”

I chose this name because the cat’s pose seemed both Egyptian and regal, with her head raised and tail curved gracefully over her feet. This carving lives with my wife’s cousins. Colleen and Craig have several cats, and their annual Christmas cards are always a treat,,,my wife and I have never enjoyed their success at dressing our cats up for the holidays.

This carving is basswood, with a boiled linseed oil finish topped with several coats of hand-rubbed wax.

“The Wolf Returns”

My Aunt Cris is very active in environmental issues in Oregon, including forest preservation and the wolf population. This wolf is carved from apple, from a branch of an extremely old apple tree from Belgrade, ME. Apple is an extremely dense and hard wood…it’s the polar opposite of the fine-grained and soft basswood that is the basis of many of these pieces.

I was particularly happy with the musculature of the neck here. The hard work of carving between the legs and under the tail is a testament to my love for my aunt.

“Otter Failure”

This was my first attempt at capturing an otter at play, but I failed to select a piece of wood thick enough to fashion the arms and legs that I wanted. So after a number of failed attempts at redesigning limbs, I just cut them off. This sat around for a while, until I decided to just focus on the abstract form of the piece. After I removed all other otter elements and finished it, the grain turned out to be beautiful.

I can’t remember how I finished this. It went to live with an old friend who was complementary about my failed effort.

“Fairy House”

My first cottonwood bark carving. I was able to integrate a lot of elements into this piece: two doors, four windows, two arches, steps, a ladder and a chimney, but I think I like the well the most. It’s hard to see, but there’s a Star Trek homage in there, too.

Cottonwood bark is easy to easy, but delicate. It’s easy to get carried away and take off a big chunk without intending to do so. This is finished with wax only.

“Otter Delight”

I made this (successful) otter for my wife. It’s butternut, with boiled linseed oil and wax. This won its division in the art competition at the Maine Sportsman’s Show.

“Hummingbirds in Love”

This is one of my favorites. This is made from heavily spalted apple, I wish I had this picture in 3-D to show the depth of the recess between the hummingbirds, and the separation of the wings. I made this by request for an old friend of the family and had a hard time giving it away. I still have a bunch of this wood, though, from a 100 year old apple tree from my home town of Blue Hill, Maine. When I forget how hard apple is to work with, I’ll make another piece from this stock. I finished this with tung oil and wax.

“Spot”

This graceful minke whale is called Spot because of a knot on one of the flukes. It’s fashioned from basswood, and I used a gray stain that I partially rubbed off for a more antiqued look. This is currently for sale at Handworks in my home town of Blue Hill, ME.

“Call Me Ishmael”

My first whale, and my first half-mount. Prior to this work, all of my carving was ‘in the round’, 3-D interpretations of objects. Symmetry was not as much of a concern here, but I had a really hard time getting my head around the relationship of the body to the flukes. Also, did you know that sperm whales are unique in only having one nostril (the “blowhole”), and it’s always on the left?

Spalted basswood and boiled linseed oil, waxed. This won a blue ribbon at the Houlton Fair, along with $4 in prize money!

“Otter Chaos”

My first commissioned work. Our friend Rob wanted to buy Otter Delight, but I couldn’t sell my wife’s carving, could I? This is also butternut with boiled linseed oil and wax.

(Don’t tell my wife, but I think the face turned out better on this one.)

“Wol”

If you recognize the title, you must have visited the Hundred Acre Wood as a child. This is another early piece carved from the branch of an apple tree. The base shows the work of insects under the bark before I stripped the wood. The very light color comes from only finishing the piece with mineral oil, to let the grain show through.

I think this was my first blue-ribbon prize-winning piece. But in all honesty, the competition at the Houlton Fair isn’t all that vigorous.

“Daffodils”

This is carved from a leftover piece of cedar decking. It was an enormous PITA, as cedar has long, stringy wood fibers that tend to split off in big pieces whenever you don’t want them to. I think has only wax as a finish. I need to create a better photo image. In days of yore, carving a love spoon was evidence that you were bringing some skills to the relationship. This one also belongs to my wife. “If the women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.”

“Peter”

I carved this for my sister-in-law, who has something of a rabbit fetish. This is basswood, with an oiled and waxed finish. The complex part of this carving was the area between the legs and the feet. I liked the way the ears turned out.

“WaveCrest”

These half-mounts are butternut on driftwood. The one on the left was a commission for an old and dear friend. The way the grain followed the contour of the bottlenose dolphin’s beak worked out nicely. I’d like to claim I did that on purpose, but sometimes you just get lucky

“Play Taps for Me”

These beer taps were a request from my wife’s cousin. My only guidance was ‘a potato and scythe’. He’s an organic farmer in Aroostook County, and I wanted the carvings to capture a little more feeling than just making a potato. The finish is a variety of stains, covered with spar varnish.

I got a wicked nice bottle of whiskey as payment, made from Jake’s grain. If you like rye, try Chocorua straight rye whiskey. You’ll be cooler if you did.

“Mother and Child Communion”

It makes sense now, but I never knew that mother dolphins have to push their babies up to the surface for their first breath. I’ve tried to capture that moment here.

This is basswood with a natural stain, boiled linseed oil, and several coats of rubbed wax.

“Left Puffin and Right Puffin”

I was commissioned to make a puffin. I don’t really claim to have a ‘style’ per se, but I like the finishes that let the natural wood grain show through. And I understand that many people like painted finishes. So, I made two puffins, and let people vote. The stained puffin on the left was the unanimous favorite among people that followed the ‘forced choice voting’ rule. A couple people did take the ‘mom’ option: “Why, I think they’re both very nice, dear.”

“Stalking Fox”

This early basswood carving is one of few that I have painted. It’s painted with acrylic paints. I think the carved fur came out nicely…one day I’ll have to do something about the eye.

“Rose”

Once I got the basic form of this harbor seal established, it started to remind me of the ‘paint me like one of your French girls’ scene in “Titanic”.

Spalted basswood carving with spar varnish finish. The spar varnish is a nice connection to the marine element of the carving, brings out the grain nicely, and makes the seal look wet, which my wife points out is their typical state.

If you want to get in touch, email me at chrysaliscarvings@gmail.com.