February 26 & 27, 2022

Annually a prestigious woodcarving show is held in Mesa, Arizona, comprising most of the carving clubs and independent woodcarvers across the state and the Western U.S. There are hundreds of entries and several thousand visitors over the two-day show.

Rob received ribbons for four carvings he entered.

• A ¼ scale realistic bird carving of a Great Blue Heron, titled “Great Blue”, received two First Place Blue Ribbons. The first blue ribbon was for the category entered. The second blue ribbon was given because the carving was voted the Best of all the Bird Carvings entered in the show at the advanced level.
• Another blue ribbon was awarded to a pair of full-size realistic Mourning Doves titled “Show Off.” One male Dove with outstretched wings is “showing off” to a perched female dove trying to gather her attention.
• A red second-place ribbon was awarded to a pair of realistically carved javelinas in a resting pose titled “Quiet Time.” The mother javelina watches over her baby who is yawning in a classic resting pose. This carving was also awarded a third-place ribbon for all Animal Carvings in the show at the advanced level.
• A red second-place ribbon was awarded to a humorous Park Ranger caricature titled, “End of the Trail” showing an old Ranger on a rocky trail with the saying, “Been on this trail awhile, not sure where it’s going now…..”. The carving is destined as an auction piece for the Association of National Park Rangers‘ annual Rendezvous this coming fall in Tucson, AZ.