Students in a wood carving class

Calvo Wood Carving Classes & Workshops

"A DAY WITH A TEACHER IS WORTH A THOUSAND PAGES." Chinese Proverb

Celebrating Over 30 Years of Teaching Wood Carving


 
Read David Calvo's woodcarving article in Popular Woodworking on learning wood carving, October 2006
Read David Calvo's woodcarving article on sharpening carving tools in Popular Woodworking, November 2006

Technique Article Old House Link

Article on wood carving and david calvo, wood carver in Old House Journal

Robb Report
Article Link

Article on Calvo Wood Carving studio in Rob Report

New England Emmy Award

David Calvo woodcarver show Television Emmy
Wood carving ornament
Wood carving ornament for JFK reproduction desk

Wood Carving School • 2024 Workshop Schedule

Wood carving tools
Wood Carving school descriptionCALVO WOOD CARVING SCHOOL is dedicated to the art and skill of wood carving for Wood carving class studentbeginner and intermediate students. Our philosophy is simple, to give you a very strong baseline in the essential fundamentals of carving. Then you can apply those skills to any style of wood carving design. Our teaching is unique because we are a strong carving technique school. This is our focus for you as the student. We do projects as an exercise to help you learn a variety of different and important hand technique skills. We work with incorporating your body mechanics because wood carving is like a sport. For example, a baseball player at bat learns how to use his body to help his swing to hit the ball. And over his career, he will continue to work on improving his technique as well. The same is true for a woodcarver with a carving tool in hand, there is a "tried and true" technique involved. We will also spend some time focusing on the carving tool design, yes- that means we will redesign your tools, because they don't come right out of the box and you will understand why. We will address sharpening your carving tools because sharpening is an art. I have had more students come to me and say "I have had these tools for a while and I still don't know how to sharpen them. Other aspects that we will study are the step by step approaches to a carving project, which includes both mechanics and visual mapping to get you to a finished project. We address the best woods to carve because the wood is your dancing partner in woodcarving and there are woods that lend themselves to carving better than others. We will study how to design a project and what elements are consistently important to create an attractive finished project. Finally, in my classes, I emphasize that I am training both your hands to carve and your eyes to see so that you can map your way through a carving design.

Our class size is small so that you are assured continuous one-on-one attention. I make a real effort to teach wood carving in an easily understood way. It is my goal and hopeful intention to get you to move beyond your personal expectations and carve with more confidence and intent. In all my years of teaching and to my delight, it is usually the student who is pleasantly surprised with their own results. I have been teaching for over 30 years and have refined my classes to be clear and concise. All I ask of a student is to bring their enthusiasm. As the teacher, it's my assignment to figure out how to individually teach you wood carving. My approach is, to teach you with the simplest of words and I build on them using clear, specfic exercises so your hands learn through muscle memory with the hope that you walk away with the most information and skills gained. So take a deep breath, relax and let's enjoy learning the skill of woodcarver The short and simple is... I am 67 years old. I have been a woodcarver for a long time and it has been my only career. Hence, I know what I am doing and I consider myself to be a very good teacher.

If you want more information on my courses please click the link here "Course Descriptions". All two, three, five and seven-day workshops start at 8:30am and run until 5:00pm. Pre-registration is required. The Wood Carving School is in easy driving range from New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio. I have had students drive all the way from Texas. Students have also come from Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri,Tennessee, Maryland and now Alaska too. Since I am on a roll I keep going. Students have come from California, New Mexico, Oregon, Illinois, North Carolina, Washington, Utah, Arizona, Oklahoma, Nevada, Alabama and Florida. And did I say we have had students from Hawaii as well as Canada, Mexico, Austria, Chile and two from South Korea. They have come from all over the world. From Logan Airport, we are a 50 minute drive north and we also have a commuter train to Gloucester as well.

Craft School in Gloucester. Massachusetts

Gloucester, MA has become a great tourist destination point. It was the location for the true story and filming of "The Perfect Storm" and the recent 2021film "Coda". We have a working fishing harbor, artist studios, galleries, museums, many beaches, salt marshes for kayakers and natural preservation areas for walkers. There is shore line fishing and off shore charter boats, schooner sails, scenic boat rides around Cape Ann as well as whale watching boats too. We have great restaurants, evening music venues, theater productions, shopping boutiques, Massachusetts State cultural Art districts, historic landmarks and more. Frankly, it's just a great vacation spot and I never leave.

• SCHOOL FACEBOOK PAGE

• SCHOOL INSTAGRAM

• 2024 SCHOOL WELCOME LETTER

Updated: January 3, 2024  For More Info: 978-281-3227 call or text 

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wood carving classes and workshops

"I was never one to sit still for too long. So I've spent quite a bit of time in one class or another. I think at this point in my life I'm a fairly good judge of a good teacher when I see one. Your teaching skills are remarkable but more importantly the class is well thought out and structured. The daily classes build on the previous day skill sets yet there is little pressure. Questions are answered with knowledge and patience. Technique and design are learned by actual hands on practice. In my experience it is rare that an accomplished artist is an equally talented Teacher. You are indeed that rare exception. As I mentioned to you at lunch one day I hope someday you write and publish a Bare Bones Wood Carving Book. It would be on every one of your student's workbench and unlike many others in that genre it would be well worn from use."

Terry Gillespie- Chicago, Illinois

"Your teaching technique had an amazing sense of balance. You have a unique insight that allows you to let us struggle enough to learn from our small mistakes but tells you when to be there to answer any questions and to provide right amount of guidance to prevent us from making big mistakes. I enjoyed your wonderful sense of humor."

John Schnobrich- Redwood Falls, Minnesota


Jason Chu came all the way from South Korea (a two-day flight) to take a workshop. His son contacted me and said my father wants to learn woodcarving from you but he can’t speak English. I told him no problem I don’t need words. He got his plane tickets and showed up. He did great in class and he managed to learn everything through demonstration. On his last day he had a car service pick him up to drive him to the airport for his flight back and as he was driving away he stuck his head and hand out the window, looked back, waived and yelled “bye Calvo” that was his english. Last year he sent me this email.

Dear Mr. Calvo,

I'm J. S. Chu in Korea. Very glad to see your message. Often I think your school and beautiful place there and miss it. It was 2015 when I met you and 4 years later, it is now 2019. I still enjoy carving here and like to show you my carving(dried fish) as attached. Your teaching is helping me a lot and appreciate it. I hope your school keeps running well and you are healthy. Good bye!

Jason Chu, South Korea

Hello David,

I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed — and how much I got out of — your "Five-day Bare Bones of Wood Carving” workshop. In addition to being an amazing artist and craftsman you’re a fantastic teacher! The class delivered even more than I expected and was well worth the trip from Seattle. Having zero experience in wood carving or wood working of any sort I left armed with the skills to work independently and explore my own projects. Better yet, I left inspired to do so. The experience of the five days was also just plain enjoyable. You did a great job of attending to the range of individual skills and backgrounds in our group while at the same time building a really fun group dynamic, which itself is truly a skill. I loved the daily play-list of music and ranging topics of discussion, which made the week feel like wonderful retreat from the usual demands of daily life. Thank you! I expect I’ll be back for further education once I have more practice under my belt…

Very best,

Sarah Doherty, Seattle, WA

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE WHAT STUDENTS SAY...

Bench spot in a class is reserved with payment for the full amount on a first come first serve policy. Spaces are limited. Hotel accomodations are in easy walking distance to the studio. I get a discount rate at some places for my students to make it more affordable. I also have room in my home. The MBTA Commuter Rail from Boston has a train station here in Gloucester.

Seven-Day Bare Bones of Wood Carving Workshops

May 18-24, 2024 Saturday - Friday
Sept. 14-20, 2024 Saturday - Friday
Oct. 12-18, 2024 Saturday - Friday

Five-Day Bare Bones of Wood Carving Workshops

April  20-24, 2024 Saturday - Wednesday
May  18-22, 2024 Saturday - Wednesday
June  22-26, 2024 Saturday - Wednesday
July  20-24, 2024 Saturday - Wednesday
Sept.  14-18, 2024 Saturday - Wednesday
Oct. 12-16, 2024 Saturday - Wednesday

Three-Day Weekend Carving Workshops

April 20-22, 2024 Saturday - Monday
May 18-20, 2024 Saturday - Monday
June 22-24, 2024 Saturday - Monday
July 20-22, 2024 Saturday - Monday
Sept. 14-16, 2024 Saturday - Monday
Oct. 12-15, 2024 Saturday - Monday

Two-Day Weekend Carving Classes

April 20-21, 2024 Saturday - Sunday
May 18-19, 2024 Saturday - Sunday
June 22-23, 2024 Saturday - Sunday
July 20-21, 2024 Saturday - Sunday
Sept. 14-15, 2024 Saturday - Sunday
Oct. 12-13, 2024 Saturday - Sunday

Intermediate Five-Day Carving Workshops

CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION

Intermediate workshops run same dates as the Bare Bones Workshops. The wood carving projects are of my suggestion and/or your choice to help you build more carving technique and ability.

Five-Day Sign Carving Workshop

June 1-5, 2024 Five-Day Workshop   Saturday - Wednesday

Decorative Box Carving & Dovetails Workshop

Sept. 28- Oct. 2, 2024 Five-Day Workshop   Saturday - Wednesday

Blacksmithing your own Wood Carving Tools

October 26-30, 2024 Five-Day Workshop   Saturday - Wednesday

One-Day Spoon Carving Workshops

December 16, 2023 Last Workshop for the year
May 11, 2024
June 29, 2024
September 6, 2024
October 5, 2024

Nine-Week Tuesday Evening Wood Carving Classes

7:00pm - 9:00pm starting January 16, 2024
   
All Workshops and Classes run from 8:30am - 5:00pm
Price List*
School Registration and Processing Fee $35
7 Day Bare Bones Wood Carving Workshop $1200
5 Day Bare Bones Wood Carving Workshop $850
3 Day Bare Bones Wood Carving Workshop $510
2 Day Bare Bones Wood Carving Workshop $340
5 Day Sign Carving Workshop $850
1 Day Spoon Carving Class ($15 materials) $150
5 Day Blacksmith and Forging your Carving Tools $850
5 Day Decorative Box Carving & Dovetail Workshop $850
9 Tuesday Evenings (7-9pm) Wood Carving Class $320
Prices do not include material costs or tool rental.
Workshops are subject to cancellation based on attendance.
Click here: REGISTRATION and ONLINE CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS

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