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Alexander Grabovetskiy

photo of a large wall hanging - acanthus swirls
photo: with permission of Alexander Grabovetskiy

Alexander tells of his grandfather teaching him to use chisels when he was only 6 years old, and of studying later with a professional Russian carver, Vladimir Tokarev, who was from Alexander’s home town of Dimitrovgrad, Russia. Imprisoned in Russia for his Christian faith and refusal to serve in the Red Army, Alexander continued woodworking in prison, and after his release started a woodcarving business. He emigrated to the United States in 1996, formed a new company, Aalmark, in Indiana in 1999. Later we find him in Charlotte, North Carolina and more recently in Boca Raton, Florida, always maintaining a woodcarving business.

Alexander mentions Gibbons specifically in one photo, the “Rose Carved in Grinling Gibbons style.”

Alexander labels his work as “Architectural and Ornamental” and works mostly in baroque and rococo style. Yet, he doesn’t limit himself to only those styles. It says on his website, “give him a piece of wood, and he can do anything with it… absolutely anything!”

Update: Since writing the original version of this article, Alexander has started an online woodcarving school. Learn more here.

photo of a large wall hanging - acanthus swirls
photo: with permission of Alexander Grabovetskiy
photo of a wall hanging - grapes and leaves
photo: with permission of Alexander Grabovetskiy
detail photo of a flower
photo: with permission of Alexander Grabovetskiy
photo of a rose, acanthus leaves and small daisies
photo: with permission of Alexander Grabovetskiy
photo of a large wall hanging - roses and acanthus swirls
photo: with permission of Alexander Grabovetskiy
photo of a large wall hanging - sunflowers
photo: with permission of Alexander Grabovetskiy
photo of Alexander carving the sunflowers - shows scale
photo: with permission of Alexander Grabovetskiy
photo of Alexander Grabovetskiy
photo: with permission of Alexander Grabovetskiy

Videos I found interesting:

A “step-by-step” video of the large rococo carving.
A video of creating sunflowers carving.

Other resources:

Alexander’s website: http://grabovetskiy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grabovetskiy  and https://www.facebook.com/woodcarvergrabovetskiy
Alexander’s School of Woodcarving: https://schoolofwoodcarving.com/
YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/grabovetskiy/videos

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Karen Rooney says

    August 25, 2021 at 8:13 pm

    Mr. Grabovetskiy I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your work. You are truly a master carver. I know you are very busy but I do miss your livestreams. I learn so much by seeing your work and watching you carve. I am not very good with computers so I am not able to do the live chat, maybe a good thing for you because I would have far too many questions. I am amazed that people who have the opportunity don’t ask you really good questions, just stupid stuff. For me that is a waste of your time.
    All the best to you. Your work is always an inspiration.

    Reply
    • Bob Easton says

      August 26, 2021 at 12:33 am

      Hello Karen,
      Yes Alex’s work is very impressive. Be aware that Alex did not write this article. I wrote the article about Alex. If you want to communicate directly with Alex, the best place is his School of Woodcarving site.

      Reply
    • Alexander Grabovetskiy says

      September 4, 2021 at 10:15 pm

      Thank you.

      Reply

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