Omar's Wood Carvings

Omar is a super nice guy who has probably met every member and leader of the church who has been there from the prophet to Steve Young, and he has the pictures to show it.  The first thing I noticed when I walked into his olive wood carving shop was the big BYU banner hanging up inside and the portraits of Jesus, Joseph Smith, and Emma Smith.  This is a guy who knows how to do business with the Mormons and has even been to Utah to sell his carvings a few times.  One look around and you’ll see many popular depictions of LDS artwork carefully carved into this wood famous in the holy land.  They are not cheap and I ended up spending a pretty penny buying a few nativity scenes.  He does a great job however and I will probably one day regret not buying the carving that depicts Jesus and his sheep where a natural white tint in the olive wood made for the white fur of the sheep, or another one of my favorites – Christ lifting Peter out of the water on the Sea of Galilee.  A few other wood carvers have caught on to the money that LDS members bring in and they too have created their own versions nearby, but I like Omar the best.