Wood Carver of Birds
Orrin Lundgren
Orrin Lundgren has been an artist of one sort or another for as long as he can remember. This includes 10 years as a graphic artist and art director for an advertising agency and as a trapeze artist in Reno, NV.
His commercial art has even been published in dozens of books, magazines, newspapers and other venues for clients including National Geographic, Biltmore Estate and Lark Books.
After moving to Asheville in 1990 he built a house (and many of its furnishings). Looking for a creative way to use some of the large pieces of wood that remained, he began his first rudimentary attempts at carving. Inspired perhaps simply by a beautiful picture in a book he began a serious hobby that has now endured for over 30 years. After joining a group of local carvers his work improved and his love of creating life size birds unfolded. He says, “I am
a detail oriented person, so the meticulous details of each project come second nature to me. Each carving presents its own unique challenge either in the carving itself or in the painting of the carving, but I love the process.
One of the most frequent questions he is asked is: How long does it take to create a carving? He states that he has never kept track of the time it takes. He is lost in that “timeless” space that occurs when an artist is totally engaged with his mind, his tools and his imagination.
“If the carvings have given you a renewed sense of the wonder and beauty of nature then they have achieved the purpose for which I made them.”
