Rob Arnberger started carving in 1977 when he served a tour of duty in the Ozark Country of Northern Arkansas as a National Park Ranger. "I fell in love with caricature carving trying to capture a story in a wood figure, using only knives and gauges to free a humorous face and figure out of a block of wood. … Read More
“Caught” Life-size Cactus Wren and Yellow Sulfur Butterfly
One day I was thumbing through a wildlife photo magazine and found this incredible photo of a Cactus Wren with a butterfly in his mouth, hunched over with tail down right after the capture of his meal. I just had to carve it! There was so much “life in the moment” and personality of the bird on display. Creating the right and accurate butterfly was a challenge also. There is as much detail in the butterfly as there is with the bird! Together they present a simple but compelling moment in the life of this appreciated desert bird. [View]
“Owl Watch” Northern Pygmy Owl
This little guy was carved in the “smoothie style” much as decoy carvers do their art focusing on “painting for realism.” Found throughout the west it sometimes hunts during the day sometimes attacking birds larger than itself. To me, all owls have an “attitude” and I hope I captured a little bit of this guy’s viewpoint! [View]
At Rest
This was a project carved with famed bird carver Glenn McMurdo. This bird is seen along the ocean shore and inland in meadows, lawns and golf courses with long reddish legs hunting for worms and other critters. When on the nest and disturbed it will race away on long legs dragging a wing, acting if injured, to lure a possible predator away from its nest. The long legs of this particular little bird are folded under as it sits at rest….or maybe on a nest? [View]
Scrub King
This is a common and very active bird found in oak and pinyon-juniper habitat of the west coast and into the eastern rim county of Arizona. It seems they are never at rest and fly together in small, loud flocks of birds working an area constantly looking for food. They are truly the “kings of the scrub”! I wanted to capture that alertness and motion, giving the viewer a sense that the bird is about ready to fly but also placing it in a low-to-the-ground habitat where something edible might be found. [View]
