Incredible, Not Edible, Wood Carving Art

Incredible, Not Edible, Wood Carving Art

These woodcarvers are expressing their love of food with these realistic food sculptures! We’ve all heard the term “too pretty to eat” but what about art “too realistic you want to eat”? Here are two culinary carving masterminds that will have your stomach rumbling — but remember they’re made out of wood! 

Ronald Koehler

Mississippi wood carving artist Ronald Koehler creates satirical food sculptures that will give you the mid-day munchies or make you think twice about the calories you consume. Now a retired sculpturing teacher from Delta State University, the skilled woodcarver utilizes a variety of tools to create the wood carving food textures.  “A bush hammer (a stone carving tool similar to a meat tenderizing tool) produced a hamburger-like texture. Drilling slightly into the surface of the wood with several different sizes of drill bits produced a bread-like textured surface.  I remembered a mistake from many years ago when using a nail set to drive a finish nail head below the surface. When I missed the nail head it left a small round indented surface.  I used that idea to create a styrofoam cup texture,” said Ronald.

Although Ronald started woodworking at Elementary school age with 2×4 wood sculptures, he started food wood carving in the early 1990s. Ronald added, “McDonald’s had little food vehicle toys in their Happy Meals. My kids loved them so I started creating little food toys for them that became more complex.”

Ronald incorporates a little bit of his humor into each of his wood carving designs and project titles. His Balanced Diet Series consists of indulgent foods with titles like Donuts & Cupcakes with Free Coffee, Is Styrofoam Really Healthy to Eat?, and Three Hotdogs, Fries & an Extremely Small Drink.

Camp Bosworth

Texas-based artist Camp Bosworth is serving up gigantic wood-carved Dairy Queen treats. Inspired by the nostalgia of his small hometown where DQ was one of the only restaurants, his colorful treats are part of his “Thank You, Please Drive Thru” series.

These unique pieces are carved using a variety of tools. “I generally start with the most aggressive tool and work down. Sometimes I use a chainsaw. I use a bandsaw a lot. I use a small Makita belt sander to shape things. I have some electric chisels that I love. I finish everything with a set of hand chisels. I use a lot of everything,” said Camp. He adds bold colors and unique finishes such as Gorilla Glue for a foaming effect, caulk for ketchup and mustard,  red cedar sawdust for the steak fingers basket, and paint with polyurethane to get the hot fudge toppings.

Camp started out as a painter but moved on to 3D wall sculptures. Now, he owns a woodshop in Marfa, Texas where he makes everything from furniture to hand-carved functional art.