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David P. Tabor, of Safety Harbor, Florida, is a wood artist
who sculpts and paints birds and other wildlife. He strives for
realism and capturing the essential characteristics of his subjects. His is a multi-disciplinary art. To help visualize his sculpture, he may model the subject in clay before carving. He favors tupelo for power carving although he carves in several woods. He paints with many thin washes of acrylics or oils to attain subtle variations, transparency, and depth of color. Items in the habitat may be created with metal armatures and epoxy resins. |
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Tabor is relatively new to wood art. Although he made toys with a
pocket knife as a kid, his interest was sparked by Rick Butz in a wood
carving television show in 1992. Tabor has been hooked ever since. Tabor has trained for several hundreds of hours each with Bob Guge and Floyd Scholz. Both are world-renowned master carvers who specialize in birds. Tabor also worked with Bob Crumley, a national award winner for his African wildlife, as well as other local carvers. Tabor was an invited demonstrator during the 2001 CraftArt Festival in Tampa, Florida. He was a Featured Artist is the 2001 Calusa Woodcarvers Show in New Port Richey, Florida. Several of his works were featured with colored photographs in an article in the February 2001 issue of Chip Chats, the national magazine for woodcarvers. Each of the nine carvings submitted to the Florida State Fair has won awards. Several newspaper articles have been written about his bird sculptures and the unique cross commissioned by the Seven Springs Presbyterian Church. |