Ed Bennett
wood carver/bronze sculptor
Web Site: www.birdsbybennett.com
Ed Bennett is a Freeland artist specializing in detailed
wood and bronze sculptures of northwest birds. He has been
creating birds for 20 years and has studied over this period
of time with several nationally known bird carvers. His
bird are in several galleries in the northwest and make
excellent gifts for any significant occasion.
Recently he has been producing some larger pieces, although
he tries to keep them the size that can be displayed on coffee
tables or pedestal arrangements and can be moved between
locations even though they are frequently done in bronze.
He has chosen to provide his birds in both wood and bronze
because some buyers prefer the vivid, realistic colors that
he uses on wood whereas others prefer the indefinite lasting
qualities that bronze sculptures provide.
One of the larger birds is the Great Blue Heron. This carving
displays the feather structure beneath the long thin feathers
that cascade from the back of the heron. The heron is in
a standing position amid marsh grass and shows the long supple
neck and wonderful head and bill structure that is the most
striking feature of this huge bird of the northwest. The
carving was cast in bronze and is often on display at the
Langley Gallery.
Another dramatic carving is a 1/2 size Owl with full wingspread
of 2 1/2 feet. The piece is called “Returning Home” since
the sculpture depicts an owl coming in for a landing as it
returns to the nest. The original woodcarving was recently
sold to a collector on the island. However, the owl was cast
in bronze and is available in a limited edition to buyers.
A bronze of a life-size Coopers Hawk is also available in
both the original wood carving and in bronze.
There a wide variety of smaller life-size song birds in both
wood and bronze. These include wrens, nuthatches, finches,
robins, juncos, quail and his most popular selling bird – the
hummingbird. The types of hummingbirds include the Rufus
(a rich light brown with red throat), Black Chinned (green
with black on the head and chin with a purple throat), and
Anna’s (light green with a rose red throat). All of
these birds are found in the Northwest
He is constantly striving to improve his carving skills to
provide the most realistic birds available. This past summer
he spent a week at a seminar in Michigan with several other
bird carvers learning techniques from Keith Mueller, who
is one of the outstanding world-class carvers. This year
he will be at a 2 week seminar learning from Floyd Scholz,
who probably the best carver of raptors (hawks, eagles, falcons,
etc) in the world.
Ed spends a great deal of time doing research for his carvings at the University of Washington’s Dept. of Ornithology located on campus at the Burke Museum.