Participation Awards
Artists who won a free subscription just for entering the contest:
Tom Fink
of North Caldwell, N.J.
Roger Hamilton
of Gallatin, Tenn.
Robert Hershey
of Lititz, Penn.
Andrew Hiroshima
of Sacramento, Calif.
Reader who won a $25 Fox Books gift certificate just for voting:
Marilyn Kroes
of Fergus, Ont., Canada
Saluting
the Best
Announcing the winners of the
2012 Best Carving Design Contest
By Mindy Kinsey
M
embers of the woodcarving
community, take a bow. You sent
a record-breaking number of entries, of
outstanding quality, to this year’s Best
Carving Design Contest and then turned out
in huge numbers to vote. Your enthusiasm,
skill, and creativity were a sight to behold.
And this happened in a year of change.
Rather than post all 600-plus entries online
for public voting—an arduous and time-
consuming task—the editors carefully
examined the entries and voted for our
favorites in each category. The entries that
received unanimous votes became the
Editors’ Choice Nominees and were posted
online for public voting, where you chose
the winners. The entries that received the
next highest numbers of public votes are
recognized here as Honorable Mentions.
(Note that the number of Nominees and
Honorable Mentions varies based on the
number of entries in each category.) View all
of the Editors’ Choice Nominees online at
We’ll feature some of these projects in
upcoming issues—please let us know which
ones you’d like to see. And, finally, our
sincere thanks to everyone who participated,
whether by entering or voting. You made this
year amazing.
The Seeder
by Gerard Fuentes of Rigaud, Que., Canada
Rose Jewelry Box
by Nairi Safaryan of Glendale, Calif.
Chadwick Ram/
Stone Sheep
by John N. Blank
of Jackson, Mich.
Spijkerjack
by Dirk Jepma
of Leeuwarden, Friesland,
Netherlands
Humpback Whales—
Mother & Calf
by David Lazzaro
of Nahant, Mass.
Red Zone
by Vern Hesketh
of Cathedral City, Calif.
Converse All Star Hi Top
by Kimberly Howard-Johnson
of San Diego, Calif.
Strike Up the Band
by Ed Pribyl
of Round Lake, Ill.
Humpback Whale
by Stanley Stary
of Cleveland, Ohio
Realistic Carvings
Sweep Contest
In a rare single-category sweep, all three winners of the
Realistic category were also voted the Best in
Contest. Readers chose Josh Guge’s
Startled
at the Swamp
(right) as first in the Realistic
category—and the Best in Contest winner.
The two Realistic category Honorable
Mentions,
The Seeder
by Gerard Fuentes
(left) and
Rose Jewelry Box
by Nairi
Safaryan (below), are also the Second
and Third Best in Show, respectively.
Congratulations to all three Best in
Contest and Realistic category winners.
Editors’ Choice Nominees