Bonnie Gibson Art

Bonnie Gibson Art To inquire about availability or to commission work, please contact me at [email protected].
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Here's the finished Coppery-Tailed Trogon. I had fun doing the habitat and the base - the wood perch was carved to imit...
08/21/2026

Here's the finished Coppery-Tailed Trogon. I had fun doing the habitat and the base - the wood perch was carved to imitate charring, the base was made from an old walnut award plaque that I cut down and shaped, and the leaves and needles were made from sheet brass and wire.

For those of you that didn't see my earlier posts, the bird is carved from tupelo wood and is life-size. This bird lives in the Sky Islands of Southern Arizona and in Mexico.

For my gourding friends - maybe some of you should try woodcarving some day - the skills are similar to carving on gourds. Like gourds, it's a hobby in danger of dying out if we can't get younger people interested.

Sneak peek of my Coppery-Tailed Trogon carving which is now painted. I am busy constructing his habitat/perch which you ...
08/20/2026

Sneak peek of my Coppery-Tailed Trogon carving which is now painted. I am busy constructing his habitat/perch which you can see the start of in the background. More to come soon!

08/19/2026

If you are interested in relief carving on gourds, this is a video showing all of the steps used to carve a horse in relief. The only difference is that this guy is using hand tools on wood, but the steps are basically done in the same order. It starts by lowering areas to raise the general shape, and refining the general shape before detailing at the end.

08/19/2026

I try not to let all of my personal beliefs spill onto my art page, but this post from noted historian, Heather Cox Richardson, really hits home. It's the history of women's suffrage and how important this right is to all citizens.

The majority of gourders are women, and I've taught a lot of them to use tools so they could do things that might have been inaccessible to them as they grew up. I had parents that were progressive enough allow me to do things that had once been totally off limits to girls. They encouraged me to get college degrees - the first female in my lineage to do so.

We need to keep moving forward, not backwards.

Working on feet and a base for the Trogon project. The feet are made from pieces of 16 and 20 gauge copper, soldered tog...
08/15/2026

Working on feet and a base for the Trogon project. The feet are made from pieces of 16 and 20 gauge copper, soldered together. The leg wire has an extension at either end that will serve as posts going in the bird and into the base. The feet are covered with Kneadatite 2-part epoxy putty. I found it at a woodcarving show - I like it better than Apoxie sculpt for this application because it is stickier and adheres to the wire better. I can carve the cured putty to refine the shape.

I found a piece of partially burned wood that I thought would make a cool base, but I ended up removing all of the charred area; it was too soft and fragile to keep. Instead, I took a picture of the char pattern, carved it into the wood and painted it.

I just got back from a 3 day stay at the Hart Prairie preserve operated by the Nature Conservancy. It is located 14 mile...
08/13/2026

I just got back from a 3 day stay at the Hart Prairie preserve operated by the Nature Conservancy. It is located 14 miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona, at the base of the San Francisco Peaks. It hosts the largest known community of rare Bebb willows (Salix bebbiana) in the American West. At 8500 ft elevation, it was definitely a nice change from the heat in Tucson.

It was like spring up there with daily afternoon showers and wildflowers popping up everywhere. How can anyone not feel revived and refreshed by a few days immersed in nature?

Thanks to Erin Creekmur, the Nature Conservancy & their friendly staff at the preserve for providing me an opportunity to visit.

Notes on each photo

Thanks all for the kind comments on my current bird carving. I started wood carving in the mid 80's - and back then ther...
08/09/2026

Thanks all for the kind comments on my current bird carving. I started wood carving in the mid 80's - and back then there weren't that many books on the subject. Those that were available had grainy black and white pictures. The only woodcarving group in Tucson was a bunch of older men who weren't interested in welcoming a young woman - fortunately, that is no longer the case. However, in my 20s I had good eyesight and steadier hands, and those are challenges now as I've aged!

I started carving duck decoys because that was the established tradition. This was the last decoy I carved after my husband gifted me a set of VCR instructional tapes from an expert bird carver, Pat Godin. He's still world renowned with tons of prestigious awards, and I learned a ton from those tapes. After this, I switched to songbirds of Arizona because it makes more sense here in the desert.

I did this in 1996, and then....I discovered gourds. This carving still sits on my fireplace hearth.

Today, I set the glass eyes into my bird carving, and added the outer eye ring which is very distinctive on a Trogon. Th...
08/09/2026

Today, I set the glass eyes into my bird carving, and added the outer eye ring which is very distinctive on a Trogon. The green stuff is Kneadatite epoxy putty - it's a bit stickier than apoxie sculpt but similar in strength. I also inserted a tiny wire at the end of his beak and blended it on with the putty. The sharp tip of the upper mandible is fragile so this gives it extra strength.

The little worm is an added piece carved from bamboo. This bird eats a variety of insects along with berries and even small lizards.

The picture is enlarged, which means I see places where I have to do more refining. ;) Also, I still need to construct the bird's legs/feet, paint, and create a display perch. I'm taking my time!

Recently, I have been working on a bird carving. I started by gathering anatomical information and as many photos that I...
08/05/2026

Recently, I have been working on a bird carving. I started by gathering anatomical information and as many photos that I could find, so that I could draw an accurate pattern. This is a fairly rare bird that lives in the southern mountains of Arizona and in Mexico. It is a a member of the Trogon family; this one is a Coppery-Tailed Trogon.

I started with a block of Tupelo - it's similar to basswood but harder. I will put notes on the pictures if you want more information about the steps. At the end is a photo of the actual bird, and a gourd I did earlier this year that features the same bird.

Feel free to ask questions. :)

I'm doing a bird carving and at the point that I'm adding some feather texture. You often get "fuzzies", but sandpaper c...
08/01/2026

I'm doing a bird carving and at the point that I'm adding some feather texture. You often get "fuzzies", but sandpaper can flatten things too much.

Different grits of Scotch-Brite pads are good for burnishing and removing fuzzies in a gentler way than sandpaper. I picked up some at a dollar store and also use them on carved gourds and other things like cleaning mosaics after grouting.

There are also small circular abrasive pads mounted to a bur shaft that you can use on smaller areas for the same purpose.

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Catalina Foothills, AZ

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