Carving Gargoyles, Grotesques, and Other Creatures of Myth

Firstly, I love your work! I just wanted to get in touch with you and offer a big THANK YOU for your book Carving Gargoyles..... 2 days ago I completed my first project (The Classic Grotesque - the one on the front cover) and I could not be happier with the result. I even surprised myself. I've been a high school Industrial Arts teacher (woodwork, metal work, technical drawing etc) for 30 years but over that time, my skills have been channelled mostly into home renovation and other similar large scale projects. My wife has always had a fascination for gargoyles, dragons and other mythical creatures and then about 6 months ago on the British TV series Grand Designs my interest was sparked by a couple who built a Gothic style house, complete with hand carved wooden gargoyles and other creatures. It was just after this that I decided that if I could find a book or a website with some basic step-by-step instructions, I might actually be able to carve myself a wooden gargoyle. Onto Google and within minutes I discovered your book and immediately placed the order. As soon as it arrived a few weeks later I went out and bought myself a few basic chisels and a nice piece of Chile Myrtle and I got started. Fortunately, a teaching colleague noticed what I was up to, went to his office and returned with an old suitcase that belonged to his grandfather. It contained a beautiful set of about 25 hand-made carving chisels. They were old, and had not been used for many, many years but they were still razor sharp and a joy to use. I have made him an offer on the chisels but he is understandably reluctant to part with them. Your instructions were excellent and set out in such a way that by the time I got to the really hard parts (the head and hands), I had honed my skills on the relatively easy sections and was therefore able to approach the challenging parts with confidence. Mind you, to save embarrassment if it didn't work, I kept saying to myself (and everyone who called by from time to time to see what I was up to), that I was really just having a go to see if I could do it, and I was quite prepared to abandon the whole project if it didn't work out. But all went well and now I think I am addicted. I gave the grotesque to my wife yesterday for a birthday present and she has already started looking through the book to pick the next project. Now that I know that this is a pastime I want to explore further, I am now on the lookout for a more complete set of tools and I think I'll make myself a carving bench like yours. So once again, thank you and best wishes.