Our shop in Decorah, Iowa

Larry carving in the shop.

Doris painting the figures

Gnomes and Things is a husband and wife creation. Larry does most of the carving, but within the last two years, Doris has started carving pins and magnets.

Larry started carving when on Boy Scout Camp staff. When going to college, Larry lived with a relative that was an excellent carver. It was through his motivation that Larry continued carving. In 1976, Larry was asked to demonstrate three dimensional carving at a third grade class. Larry has been carving ever since. Larry learned through many mistakes, until he decided it would be better to take classes to improve the quality of his work. He has taken instruction from Stanley Marouschek, Joe Wannemaker, Harley Refsal, Harold Enlow, Betty Lusk, and Gerald Ekern.

The carvings turn out to be a combination of the Scandinavian style and the style Larry learned before he took any instruction. Because Larry and Doris live in a Norwegian community, he chose to start carving Gnomes. Nearly one half of the carving inventory are Gnomes, but they have branched out to many other caricatures, such as Trolls, Santas, Snowmen, Christmas decorations, pins, and magnets.

The carvings are painted by Doris. She has the steady hand to put the final details on our carvings.

Larry and Doris have both retired from their regular jobs and are doing the woodcarving on a full time basis. In 2004, they built Gnomes and Things, a woodcarving workshop at their home address.

Wood

All carvings are hand crafted primarily of basswood.

Paint

Water-based acrylics are used to paint each carving.

Finish

The carvings are then finished by dipping them in a lindseed oil saturation.

Size

The carvings vary from 3 to 12 inches tall.