This photo was taken in the West Acres Shopping Center here in my hometown of Fargo, North Dakota. This display case you see features a number of wood carvings of fish and other aquatic creatures by John Jensen.

John Jensen (1929-2003) was a woodcarver all his life. He started carving fish in the 1950s, but turned serious about them in 1983. From that time until his death in 2003, Jensen carved hundreds of fish. He was featured on TV and magazines. Jensen also received many honors and awards as well as memberships to organizations like the Minnesota Folk Arts Directory and the National Fish Decoy Association. When he died in 2003 here in Fargo, there was a four year waiting list for people wanting carvings! These carvings and many others out there are worth hundred or even thousands of US dollars.

Jensen was old school in his way of working. He carved his fish by hand using a knife and painted them by hand too, namely with oils.