Walt Blackmore is a wood sculpture who never thought he
would do anything that didn't include geometry, angles and straight lines.
In 2000 Walt was in the middle of a two year job assignment in Montreal,
Canada. He was thinking about, and trying to plan for, retirement.
One of his ideas was to build furniture. Walt decided to learn to
carve so that he could embellish his furniture with grapes, scrolls and
other decorative designs. Walt met Robert Comeau, a Montreal bird
carver, who told Walt he could teach him how to use carving tools and that
Walt would learn by carving a saw whet owl.
Well, as the story goes, the rest is history. Walt's first owl was the
end of his idea of furniture making and the beginning of his passion for
wood art, particularly birds with an even stronger interest in raptors.
This is obvious by the number of raptors carved compared to the number of
other subjects.
Walt is active in two woodcarving clubs in the Phoenix area: Grand Canyon
State Woodcarvers, Inc. (GCSW) and Arizona Woodcarvers Association (AWA).
He has been president and treasurer of GCSW and has twice served as chairman
of the Desert Woodcarving Show. In 2010 Walt was chosen Featured Artist for
the Desert Woodcarving Show.
Featured Artist at the 2010 Desert Woodcarving
Show
Walt really enjoys sharing his carving experiences. He gives private
lessons in his studio and teaches classes through the Tempe Parks and
Recreation Department in Tempe, Arizona.
Walt has entered woodcarving shows all across the country and has won awards
at many of them. He enjoys attending the Ward World Wildfowl Carving
Championships in Ocean City, Maryland, and has attended seminars and
classes. During this show he really appreciates the critiques of many
of the world class carvers
Walt is a retired aerospace engineer who worked most of his career designing
gas turbine engines in Phoenix, Arizona. Throughout his working (for
money) career he had the opportunity for lots of travel, both in the U.S.
and internationally. However, he was always able to come home to the
same house in Arizona, a house in Tempe owned since 1970. Walt prides
himself on doing things others said couldn't be done. This creative
passion has carried over into Walt's wood sculptures.
