Bruce Ankeny is shown doing a bit of carving on a caricature piece in his woodcarving shop which is located in the back of his garage in his home in Blue Earth. The shop is filled with tools, wood, paints and a whole lot of his finished items.

Bruce Ankeny of Blue Earth has been a woodcarver for many, many years, but recently he has taken his hobby to a whole new level.

A national level.

Bruce used to spend a lot of hours in his workshop at his home in Blue Earth. But, since he retired two years ago after having worked in the family business for 47 years, he now has the chance to spend even more time carving his signature caricature pieces.

And, teaching others, around the Midwest, how to do it.

“Last September, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, I was voted in as an official member of the Caricature Carvers of America group,” Bruce says. “I was very honored to be invited to join the CCA.”

It is no easy task to become a member. There are only 25 members at a time and it takes 80 percent of the vote of the current members in order to get in.

“You have to be nominated by a member first, then submit samples of your work,” Bruce says. “Next you are interviewed by a committee.”

Not everyone is accepted as a member on their first try, but Bruce was.

One of the things expected from each of the CCA members is to teach classes of caricature carving.

“The CCA sets up different teaching sessions around the country,” Bruce explains. “Each member needs to do so many hours of classroom teaching.”

Bruce started off his first teaching sessions first in Rochester and then in Grand Marais, Minnesota, at the Northern Folk School.

Next he went to St. Cloud for their Snow Days.

This week he is in Crete, Nebraska, at Doane University teaching carving classes for the week.

The end of June he will be traveling to Wahpeton, North Dakota.

Then in September, it is back to Colorado Springs.

Members of the CCA teach classes at the annual gathering in September that is called Carving the Rockies.

“After the meeting there are three days of classes, taught by three CCA instructors,” Bruce says. “We will instruct 35 to 40 people for the three days.”

Bruce himself took the class in Colorado Springs a few years ago.

“One of the CCA members who was teaching the class was impressed with my work,” Bruce says. “He said ‘How come I don’t know about you? Where have you been?’ I told him I have been working a full-time job back in Blue Earth in a furniture store.”

Now that he has retired, that is all changing. Now he has a lot more time to devote to his woodcarving hobby.

In mid-October Bruce is going to be in Lebanon, Tennessee, to teach some more classes.

“More opportunities could crop up,” he says. “And I am already booked to go to Utah next spring.”

Bruce’s wife, Bonnie, who is retired from working for the city of Blue Earth, goes with him on all these teaching trips.

“I enjoy it,” Bonnie says. “We see interesting places and meet a lot of interesting people.”

Bruce adds that he could not do all of this without having a very understanding and supportive wife by his side.

“Bonnie always goes with me and is very supportive and encouraging,” Bruce says. “She also helps promote and sell my carvings.”

Besides just being an esteemed member of the CCA, and teaching some carving classes, there are other benefits as well.

Bruce can now use the CCA logo on all of his business cards, on his carvings and on places such as his website or Facebook page.

There is also a company that makes woodcarving supplies and they are now producing a limited edition of Bruce Ankeny signature wood carving knives.

“I guess that means I am now famous,” Bruce says with a laugh.

The Caricature Carvers of America also produce an annual book that focuses on one aspect of carving wood caricatures.

Last year it was carving characters’ eyes. This year it is mouths. Each member of the CCA submits one example of the way they carve a mouth, step by step.

Each member has their own page in the book, including now one that will be how Bruce Ankeny carves a funny caricature mouth.

Bruce got his start in woodcarving back in 1982 when he attended a woodcarving show in Pemberton Auditorium that was sponsored by the Blue Earth Royal Chiselers Woodcarving Club.

He was immediately intrigued and wanted to try it for himself.

Two club members, Herb Hansen and Harley Schmitgen, took him under their wings and gave him the tools and wood – and instruction – he needed to get started. Schmitgen is an emeritus member of the CCA.

Bruce immediately focused on caricatures and soon learned he was pretty good at it.

“I started out working at a desk under the stairs of our home,” Bruce says. “Or the dining room table. It was a mess.”

When Bruce and Bonnie added on to their home, a workshop was added to the back of the garage where Bruce hangs out for hours at a time.

Over the years he has carved thousands upon thousands of little wood caricatures.

He gets his ideas for a character or facial expressions for the characters from children’s books, comic books, humor magazines or even off of Pinterest or other places on the Internet.

And sometimes they just seem to come to him out of thin air.

Many of his favorites from over the years he has kept inside his home on display. He has sold a lot of them over the years, but keeps his favorites.

His Green Giant and Sprout carved caricatures are for sale at the Giant Welcome Center.

Bruce says his passion for woodcarving and creating his caricatures has not waned a bit over the years.

“I highly recommend that any recently retired person have a hobby or two or get involved in one,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be woodcarving, but you need to have something to do that you enjoy after you retire.”

Of course, wood carving caricatures is not the only hobby Bruce has, as anyone who has heard him sing with various bands over the years can certainly attest to.