STAG SPIRIT

Carving can be traced back as far as ancient civilizations and found in regions all over the world. Wood carving is one of the oldest arts of humankind, such as wooden spears from the Middle Paleolithic.

We are honored to be collaborating with Steve Schwarzer this spring.

“I can’t draw but I can carve anything,” Steve said. The basic form may take only a few hours but the refinement and attention to detail can go on for weeks. Not only is Steve Schwarzer a master blade-smith but he has been carving for about thirty years and was taught by master-carver, Garry VannAusdale.

Garry VannAusdale's passion for carving all started with a purchase. In 1970, while living in Long Island and working construction, he acquired a stylized bird head carved from a whale tooth by Ken Sprague of Long Island N.Y.

Not long after purchasing the whale tooth, he began carving. Garry started in bone and wood and within two years, he had carved a bird head equal to the one he had purchased.

Above, Steve is at his bench in Crecent City, Florida, carving the stag face. Most of these usually go at the end, or “butt” of his knives. For the gallery, we decided a sterling silver pendant would be a wonderful idea to solidify Steve’s importance in the world of his craft, knives, Damascus forging and more.

After Steve finished the piece in stag antler, we made a mold and cast a limited run (just three) in sterling silver.

This is an example of some of Steve’s carvings. Here is “The Evil Twin” razor, built by Will Stelter and Steve Schwarzer. The blade is made from twisted mosaic steel by Stelter and Schwarzer, forged in Florida in Schwarzer’s shop. Stelter did the majority of forging, heat treating and grinding. Schwarzer cut and carved the handle and fine tuned the blade.