Carving Workshop

We had the pleasure of journeying to Snohomish, Washington to visit the Taoist Studies Institute and attend a weekend workshop hosted by Master carver Hideta Kitazawa.  It was really a pleasure to meet him and see his incredible level of design in relief carving using only chisels and gouges.  Pictured above are braces for the "Mountain Gate" project that Hideta worked on two years ago on his first visit to the Taoist Studies Institute sanctuary. 

Hideta designed and collaborated with the Taoist Studies Institute collaborated to build a wooden bell shaped like a fish dragon. 

He carved this little model quickly to help visualize for his final drawing to scale. 

This design was then cut into three pieces and carved on the outside and hollowed on the inside then the three pieces were glued back together to make this ceremonial dinner bell! This was a really terrific piece to see underway and I was so amazed at Master Hideta's skill and ability to see three dimensionally. 

Though I did not work much on this dragon fish, I did get to carve a letter!