A professional carver since 1983 and in his 36th year of carving, Floyd Scholz is universally recognized as a top carver of birds in the world. His portrayal of eagles, hawks, owls and many other large birds has won him a large

Best in Show in the 2005 World Championship Master's Division

international following and many top awards at major shows throughout the country. When not in his studio, traveling and doing essential field studies of birds take up most of his time.

Scholz's work has been included in the prestigious Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum "Birds in Art" exhibition and has been featured in many publications including People Magazine and Smithsonian Studies in American Art. His work is included in many important collections worldwide, and he has been featured on many television shows nationwide. Scholz is also the author of the best selling books "Owls," "Birds of Prey" (now in its fifth printing) and "Carving and Painting a Red-tailed Hawk," published by Stackpole Books. Scholz's sculptures are in great demand, and his larger works routinely command prices of 80 to 200 thousand dollars.

Scholz's studio is located in Bennington, Vermont at the Bennington Center for the Arts.

Scholz moved to Vermont in 1980 after graduating from Central Connecticut State University with a B.S. degree in Industrial Education. This former NCAA decathlon champion was interested in hiking, birds of prey, working with wood, and learning to play the banjo. He wasn't sure how those ingredients would fit together in the form of a career, but the Green Mountains of Vermont seemed like a good place to sit back and let life simmer while things sorted themselves out. At first, Scholz intended to teach school, but he found that logging paid better, and the physical labor was rewarding. He later worked for a building contractor, and then in 1983 began carving full time.

Scholz enjoys the drama, grace, and mystery of birds of prey, and his sculptures depict the birds in a highly animated way. He has spent thousands of hours observing hawks and eagles in the mountains near his home, and he has watched them as they interact with their environment, playing in the wind above the cliffs of Mt. Horrid or hunting in a spruce thicket along the White River. Hawks are birds of action and high drama, and that's how he portrays them.

With the seed of desire to learn more about these elusive creatures firmly planted in his soul, it was with fanatical drive and determination that he entered an open door to a new world of possibilities and discovery in his adopted state. "My life's passion of celebrating the spirit and majesty of birds through the medium of wood and paints could not have fully blossomed without the stimulating environment provided by such a beautiful and diverse state as Vermont."

(below) Floyd strums and rides down the center of Rt. 125.

(right) In September 2005 Floyd got to meet and spend time with a true American legend, the great Earl Scruggs. Floyd, being a banjo player, could not have been happier at meeting one of his all-time heros.