Artist Bio
Doug Rose began whittling toy airplanes and boats of white pine while in elementary school. In a high school shop class he showed enough interest in woodworking that his parents gave him a basic set of carving tools, which he began using to produce abstract, decorative and functional pieces. After a twenty-five year career in the diplomatic service, which gave him the opportunity to observe rich woodcarving traditions and techniques in Latin America and Asia, he moved to Boise, Idaho, where he joined the Idaho Woodcarvers Guild and began dedicating more time to carving. An avid birdwatcher, he found a natural combination of his favorite pastimes in the carving of waterfowl and other birds. In his first venture into competitive carving at the 1995 Idaho Woodcarvers Guild show in Boise, all four of his entries won ribbons at the Novice level, including a Best of Division for a miniature pintail duck with cattails. Encouraged by this success and the sale of a Black Duck decoy through the Boise Made in Idaho Store, he began producing a variety of pieces for sale to collectors, including commissioned works.
In the ensuing years, Doug won ribbons in multiple categories, including Best of Divisions at the intermediate level, which led to competition at the open level, the highest class. In May 1996 two of his sculptures were selected for a 65 piece show at the SpringvilleArt Museum in Utah. At the 1997 Idaho Woodcarvers Show he won three blue ribbons in the Open division. His life size carving of a sage grouse won a Best of Division ribbon and the Peregrine Fund award. It appeared in the Summer 1998 Wildfowl Carving and Collecting magazine Showcase.
After a three year hiatus while he served as the founding director of Latter-day Saint Charities in India and Nepal, Doug Rose returned to woodcarving in 2001. His entries in the 2002-2005 Idaho Woodcarvers Shows earned several first and second place ribbons in Advanced competition and the Competitors’ Choice award for his carving of a raven. One of his sculptures was selected for an invitational juried show at the Art Source Gallery in downtown Boise. In 2002 he was elected “Carver of the Year” by the Idaho Woodcarvers Guild and in 2004 he was inducted into the Idaho Woodcarvers Hall of Fame. In 2009 he was commissioned to create a bronze sculpture of a pair of pheasants for placement in the Idaho Botanical Garden. The same year, Doug became a founding member of the Idaho Artistry in Wood Association. In addition to taking courses in art at the University of California and sculpture at Boise State University, he has studied wildfowl carving with Ted Smith. The artist’s work now includes a range of full-size and miniature waterfowl, songbirds, jewelry and functional items such as clocks, chests and furniture carving.
Awards and Recognition
- 2014 Idaho Artistry in Wood Show Featured Artist
- Idaho Woodcarvers Guild Hall of Fame, Carver of the Year, Lifetime Member
- Peregrine Fund Award and Will Hayden Award for competition carvings
- Numerous First Place and Best of Division awards in competitions
Shows and Associations
- Idaho: Idaho Woodcarvers Guild Show; Idaho Artistry in Wood Show; Art Source Gallery, 208 Gallery, Boise Art Museum Beau Arts
- Other states: Columbia Flyway Wildlife Art Show, Vancouver, WA; Springville Art Museum, UT; Two Rivers Decoy and Arts Show, Rumson, NJ; Utah Valley Woodcarvers Show, UT
Affiliations
- Idaho Woodcarvers Guild (President: 2016-2018) Newsletter and Communications editor
- Feather and Quill
- Idaho Artistry in Wood Association (Founding Director), Publicity Chairman
Education and Teaching
I learned basic woodcarving and tool use in a woodshop class in High School and studied design, drawing, and rendering as an Architecture student at the University of California, Berkeley. I owe almost all my wildfowl carving skills and techniques to studies with world champion wildfowl carver, Theodore J. Smith. A course in carving/sculpture from Professor John Taye at Boise State University introduced me to additional genre, including stone carving.
I try to share what I have learned with others by teaching courses in wildfowl carving and demonstrating the art of woodcarving at fairs, libraries and museums.
Art of the Carver 