About the Artist
Andrew Willburger was born in London, Ontario. His father, Ferdinand brought the art of woodcarving from his native Germany when he immigrated to Canada. Andrew learned to carve from his father, who made religious figures for his church and also created pieces as a hobby. After seeing and being inspired by Neil Cox’s works in the early 1990s, Andrew began carving with the intent of entering pieces into competitions, where he met with success. From those initial victories came a drive to expand his carving abilities. He began attending seminars, both in Canada and abroad, and continued to earn high accolades from judges at competitions. He has taken seminars with highly-accomplished professional woodcarvers, including Neil Cox, Pietro Vinotti, and Ian Norbury. Andrew has also taken clay sculpting classes from Mohawk College, and attended seminars by artists Joe Dampf and Fred Zavadil. Having been entering competitions both nationally and internationally for over 20 years, Andrew has recently begun offering pieces for sale through his studio.
Andrew begins each carving by sculpting a clay model. After achieving the desired likeness in clay, he begins carving, using the “pointed method” to duplicate exactly the clay model in wood. From clay model to finished sculpture, larger pieces often take over 100 hours to complete.
To find out more about his work or commission a piece of art you can contact Andrew at info@andrewwillburger.com