Bob Merry of Anchorage, Ak., carves our antlers from caribou, moose, and sometimes Dahl sheep horn. In the fall of the year Bob makes trips hundreds of miles up various rivers in a small boat and buys shed antlers from native Alaskans living along the rivers. Most of these villages are a long ways from any town or road. Bob has to camp along the river, usually in the rain, for days at a time. He loads his purchases into his boat for the trip back down river to a road where he can get a truck to get the antlers back to Anchorage. There is a lot of work and hardship just getting the raw materials to the studio to start carving.
Bob personally carves each antler with the help of his wife Josephine, daughter Joy, and son Mark. Rhonda and Harvey have been to Bob’s studio and watched him work. He is amazing. He can look at antler and visualize what he wants to carve. He can convert that vision to his hand and with a high speed grinder , produce a beautiful piece of art. Bob is the best antler carver in the state and maybe the country. |
