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How do you capture the essence of a moment, a feeling that takes hold during a specific point in time where time actually feels like it stops? This is quite the common creative artistic goal; painters, photographers, sculptors, sketch artists, and yes carvers all can seek towards achieving a freeze frame of reality. The goal of this carving was to capture a hunter’s morning, the timeframe just before sunrise, almost everything is seen as a silhouette, until one point in time that you may not even perceive took place but all of the sudden color appears, often a golden hue. Anyone that has spent their share of time in a blind knows that this is often when that amazing buck you were watching for the past fifteen minutes suddenly and magically morphs itself into a bush with a fallen branch as antlers; but every now and then the transformation doesn’t take place and what stands before you actually is a mature, defined, and majestic creature. This is a point in time relished by every hunter, men, women, and youth alike whether it is the first time, or even for those with a lifetime of experience. This piece is a birthday present for musician, outdoorsman, and author Ted Nugent, the inspiration for this wildlife scene comes from my personal experience as well as the descriptive nature of Ted’s many writings and speeches. The whitetail was selected as it remains his most cherished game, a trait we have in common. This piece is actually the first one that I formally titled, previous works being furniture, or scenes carved within bar fronts, chests, or other functional forms. The title comes from the obvious whitetail deer, Sunrize is derived from “Sunrize Safaris” which is the Nugent family’s hunting guide and expedition service. The pattern is a composite modified from a Lora S. Irish sketch, which is a common practice within our shop. We employ various components from different patterns, especially the wildlife and detailed trees, with our own backgrounds to scale the scene to fit the desired panel size. The pattern is the key to a carving’s outcome; spend as much time in this phase as it takes to develo p your scene. Recreate the scene multiple times, change subtle items in the background and the foreground, adjusting it until it feels right. “Whitetail Sunrize” By Eric M. Saperstein, Artisans of the Valley www.artisansofthevalley.com 103 Corrine Drive Pennington, NJ 08534 609-637-0450 Information about Sunrize Safaris and Ted Nugent can be found at www.tednugent.com Carving patterns by Lora S. Irish can be found at www.carvingpatterns.com

Whitetail Sunrize - Whitetail Deer Hand Carved Scene

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Artisans of the Valley Feature Article on a hand carved whitetail deer scene. www.artiansofthevalley.com [email protected] 609-637-0450 Artisans of the Valley, based in Pennington, NJ, is an exclusive custom furniture, cabinetry, carving, and restoration shop. These craftsmen are the last of the traditional apprenticeship method of passing on the skills of furniture design, joynery, carving, and finishing. We offer our custom furniture by commission, and we hand sign and date each piece upon completion. For over 35 years Master Craftsman Stanley D. Saperstein has perfected his skills and in the process passed these skills to his son Eric. Eric has now taken the reins of the business, studio, and the title of Master Craftsman. Artisans offers heirloom quality hand rubbed shellac and tung oil finishes as well as hand painted options on any of our pieces. In addition, modern finishes are available through our affiliates including the full spectrum of lacquers, acrylics, and urethanes. Artisans of the Valley is the last of the true conservation studios in New Jersey, providing museum quality restorations, refinishing, repair, and preservation services. Artisans will evaluate your antiques and collectables to determine the best options for your cherished possessions. Artisans is one of the few remaining restoration studios that can handle restoring a true shellac finish and provide the skills necessary to replace or restore damaged ball and claw feet, detailed carvings, and veneer. Bent on educating our clients, Artisans offers a tactical theory on restoration entitled “The Philosophy of Restoration.” This article outlines the concepts associated with restoration, and helps dispense the myth surrounding antiques and their care. Artisans restoration services are not limited to furniture; we handles military artifacts such as firearms, swords, and leather goods. We are the only conservation studio restoring antique and collectable chess sets; bragging rights include several the famous Jaques of London first 300 Staunton series sets. Artisans provides services for commissions, restoration, carving, and design to residential & commercial clients, design firms, and architects. Please contact us to discuss the specifics of your project.

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  • 1. Whitetail Sunrize How do you capture the essence of a moment, a feeling that takes hold during a specific point in time where time actually feels like it stops? This is quite the common creative artistic goal; painters, photographers, sculptors, sketch artists, and yes carvers all can seek towards achieving a freeze frame of reality. The goal of this carving was to capture a hunters morning, the timeframe just before sunrise, almost everything is seen as a silhouette, until one point in time that you may not even perceive took place but all of the sudden color appears, often a golden hue. Anyone that has spent their share of time in a blind knows that this is often when that amazing buck you were watching for the past fifteen minutes suddenly and magically morphs itself into a bush with a fallen branch as antlers; but every now and then the transformation doesnt take place and what stands before you actually is a mature, defined, and majestic creature. This is a point in time relished by every hunter, men, women, and youth alike whether it is the first time, or even for those with a lifetime of experience. This piece is a birthday present for musician, outdoorsman, and author Ted Nugent, the inspiration for this wildlife scene comes from my personal experience as well as the descriptive nature of Teds many writings and speeches. The whitetail was selected as it remains his most cherished game, a trait we have in common. This piece is actually the first one that I formally titled, previous works being furniture, or scenes carved within bar fronts, chests, or other functional forms. The title comes from the obvious whitetail deer, Sunrize is derived from Sunrize Safaris which is the Nugent familys hunting guide and expedition service. The pattern is a composite modified from a Lora S. Irish sketch, which is a common practice within our shop. We employ various components from different patterns, especially the wildlife and detailed trees, with our own backgrounds to scale the scene to fit the desired panel size. The pattern is the key to a carvings outcome; spend as much time in this phase as it takes to develop your scene. Recreate the scene multiple times, change subtle items in the background and the foreground, adjusting it until it feels right.By Eric M. Saperstein, Artisans of the Valley www.artisansofthevalley.com 103 Corrine Drive Pennington, NJ 08534 609-637-0450Information about Sunrize Safaris and Ted Nugent can be found at www.tednugent.com Carving patterns by Lora S. Irish can be found at www.carvingpatterns.com

2. I can also offer some advice for carving scenes, select your material first, lay out the planks, but dont glue anything together right away. Lay your pattern on the material; watch the flow of the grain and the natural patterns within the wood. Adjust the order of your planks and the layout of your pattern until you find a match. Dont rule out swapping out planks until you get the right grain pattern. Youll find natural flows for water, clouds, streams, mountains, and sunsets or sunrises within the natural flow of grain. Take advantage of knots and other defects in the material that may actuallyturn out to help develop the carving. Think about it, what better to make an old crocked tree look real than an actual natural feature of the wood panel? The material is solid quarter sawn white oak for the panel with a solid American black walnut frame. The relief is approximately at the deepest point. Tinting is acrylic wash, golden oak stain, with a tung oil finish. The carving is by hand using 18th century cast steel tools. Detail such as fur and grass, shadows, and ripples in the pond are burned. The panel was presented to Mr. Nugent at his 58th birthday hunt in December of 2006 at the YO Ranch in Mountain Home, TX by myself my fiance Theresa. The presentation was in thanks for his work in wildlife preservation, education of youth, and efforts to preserve our rights and freedoms as Americans. Ted is shown with his wife Shemane, accepts Whitetail Sunrize & a theme walking stick carved by Stanley D. Saperstein. While taking the photograph featuring the bounty of our hunt, it seemed appropriate for Uncle Ted to hold the antlers and present my 8pt whitetail!