By Brian Bowman
Gordon Kanne is a talented artist and wood carver. There is no question about that.
But the 62-year-old retired wood carver did not know exactly how good he was until he submitted a pair of entries to the Prairie Canada Carving Competition March 28-30 at the Victoria Inn in Winnipeg.
After wowing the judges with a pair of meticulously crafted carvings - which earned him first- and second-place ribbons – now he knows.
And so does the rest of the wood-carving fraternity.
Kanne’s intricate “Mouser” wood carving of a fox appearing airborne captured first place in division and show in the intermediate class at a competition which attracted more than 400 entries from individuals from B.C., the prairies, Ontario and some northern U.S. states.
“I couldn’t break the smile off my face,” admitted Kanne proudly, while at a wood-carving session at the Gordon Howard Seniors Centre Tuesday afternoon. He meets with the group of local carving enthusiasts once a week for about three hours each Tuesday.
The “Mouser” took Kanne roughly 75 hours to complete and was exceptionally carved, giving onlookers the impression a fox was about to pounce on its unsuspecting prey.
“They don’t see a mouse, they hear them,” said Kanne, explaining the fox’s movements in his award-winning carving. “I had a judge tell me before I got this award that as soon as he walked through the door, he knew that it was a good carving because I had it animated in the air.”
Kanne was also awarded a second-place finish based on a fish carved out of basswood, an idea he came up with after doing a watercolour painting.
He estimated it took him 30 to 40 hours to complete the fish carving.
The fox idea was strictly his own, said Kane, who is already quick at work brainstorming for future carvings.
“As soon as I got home (from the competition), I started to draw,” Kanne said, adding he was impressed with several other entries at the recent competition. “I’m constantly trying to come up with new ideas for something. I’ll carve in my gazebo all summer if I have to.”
But while the talented carver will continue to work on his next masterpiece, he admitted he’ll take a break from attending future competitions, at least for the time being, meaning will miss a show in Brandon from April 12-14.
“I’m going to take a break,” he said.
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