Tom' s Anthurium Leaf and Monarch Caterpillar Won A 1st Place Blue Ribbon at the Colorado Carvers Club this fall.
Tom sculpted both the Leaf and the caterpillar, then painted the colorful caterpillar with no help from me.

This Oak Leaf Bowl shaped like an Anthurium Leaf has a natural hole in it. At the start of the bowl Tom had no idea there was a bad spot in the middle of the wood. After a great deal of time and effort of carving more and more of the leaf, guess what he discovered....In the middle of the leaf bowl was an ugly brown hole. It was a natural part of the trees' growth. Now What?

Now the leaf was quite defective. It certainly was no longer a beautiful hand carved piece of art.

After months of thought and disappointment, he wondered if he could make a worm or bug that would fit the hole and look like it had eaten the wood and made the hole.

He liked the gaudy Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar. Could he carve it the right size and.... oh yes, Could HE paint it with all those stripes on the body? Barb usually did the paintings. After hours of deciding what brushes to use and could he hold his hand still enough but not make the stripes perfect, this is his final step.

We think it came out pretty well, from a disaster piece to a beautiful caterpillar, with 2 sets of antenna, climbing out of the leaf.
The Caterpillar has a front set and back set of antenna. His face has a tiny triangle shaped mouth with teeny fangs. He has black legs with white stripes. You would think he is so gaudy he would be easy for other birds to snatch and eat. Yet remember, he becomes the most beautiful Monarch Butterfly.