He lost everything when the 1980 Olympics were boycotted...now his six-figure bird carvings are owned by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Hollywood stars

Published: 13:49, 12 April 2026 | Updated: 13:51, 12 April 2026 His life was supposed to peak at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Floyd Scholz had trained for years as a rising decathlete, with his sights set on competing in Moscow. But in 1980, his Olympic dreams were abruptly crushed when the United States, under Jimmy Carter, boycotted the Games over political tensions in Afghanistan, wiping out what he believed would be his defining moment. What followed was even more devastating. His athletic career ended. His engagement collapsed. And the future he had spent years building vanished almost overnight. ‘Everything kind of crashed for me,’ Scholz said of that summer. So he did something few people would dare. He packed his life into an old Jeep, left everything behind, and disappeared into the mountains of Vermont with nothing but a guitar, a banjo, and a quiet obsession that would eventually make him one of the most sought-after wood carvers in the world, with collectors ranging from Hollywood royalty to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A failed Olympic dream forced Floyd Scholz to start over in the woods, where he transformed personal loss into a world-class artistic career Robert F. Kennedy Jr is among the high-profile collectors of Floyd Scholz’s hyper-real bird carvings From his quiet studio tucked into the woods, Scholz, now 68, has spent nearly six decades doing something few people on Earth can do: carving birds so lifelike that real ones attack them. Blue jays have dive-bombed his owls. Crows have mobilized against his hawks. And collectors, from billionaires to A-list celebrities, have lined up for years to own his work, paying anywhere from thousands to well into six figures for a single sculpture. ‘I don't finish my birds,’ Scholz said with a laugh. ‘I abandon them.’ It’s a line he’s fond of repeating, and one that neatly sums up the obsessive perfectionism behind his art. Scholz, now widely regarded as one of the best wood carvers alive, has won five US national titles and a World Championship of Bird Carving, with individual pieces selling for well into six figures and often purchased before they are even finished. He has authored eight books on the craft, teaches sold-out seminars across the country, and produces work that sits in private collections and museums around the world. What makes his résumé even more improbable is that he never took a single formal art lesson. 'I was never told you can't do that,' he said. 'So I tried everything.' That freedom, combined with a photographic eye for anatomy, color, and motion, became his signature. Scholz doesn't just study what birds look like, he studies why they look the way they do: the way falcons' dark facial markings reduce glare from the sun, or how a red-tailed hawk's posture reflects absolute confidence at the top of the food chain. Floyd Scholz and Richard Branson are pictured with ‘The Queen of Champlain,’ a bald eagle and chick sculpture regarded as one of Scholz’s masterworks Scholz’s hyper-real sculptures are so convincing that blue jays and crows have been known to attack them, mistaking them for real predators (Scholz is pictured holding a barn owl he carved for a commission) 'Birds have been ruling the skies for 120 million years,' he said. 'We've been around for a blink of that time.' Born in Connecticut in 1958, Scholz grew up in a turbulent household. When he was young, his home wasn’t always a safe or stable place, so he escaped to the woods instead. 'I would run out of the house and hide in the woods,' he said. 'That was where I felt safe.' Next door to his childhood home was a wooded area where he could disappear for hours, climbing trees, listening to birds, and watching hawks circle overhead. 'I'd lie in the grass looking up at the sky,' he said. 'I just wished I could fly away.' Birds, he said, became both companions and symbols of freedom long before they became his life's work. Scholz traces his professional origin story back to eighth grade. Called unexpectedly into the office of the strictest administrator at his school, Scholz was certain he was in trouble. Instead, the man asked a simple question. Actress Bo Derek poses with her pair of blue-footed boobies carving, created by Scholz, inspired by her travels to the Galápagos Islands The bluebird commission Scholz completed for Derek in 2018 'Have you ever carved a bluebird?' The principal wanted to commission one as a birthday gift for his wife. Scholz agreed, for $30. The validation, he says, put 'wind in his sails.' 'That moment told me this could be real,' Scholz said. 'That someone would actually pay for this.' Word of Scholz's work spread the way it often does among the wealthy -competitively. 'When one person has something unique, others want one that's even better,' he explained. Over the years, Scholz's birds have quietly accumulated a following far beyond the carving world, ending up in the private collections of celebrities, artists, and power players who tend to share recommendations the way they share tailors. Elizabeth Taylor owned multiple pieces and once referred to him simply as 'my carver.'  Floyd Scholz presents his custom wood carving to baseball legend David Ortiz, known as ‘Big Papi,’ during the slugger’s Celebrity Golf Classic after creating a piece honoring his life and legacy Scholz’s carving ‘Life, Legacy & Love’ captures David Ortiz’s rise from the Dominican Republic to Red Sox legend, with intricate symbols including gold chains, a pearl heart and the national bird Glenn Close as well as billionaire Richard Branson have been long time admirer's of Scholz's eagles. Actress and conservationist Bo Derek owns several of Scholz’s works, including a bluebird completed in 2018 and a pair of blue-footed boobies inspired by her travels to the Galápagos Islands. Comic legend Gary Larson owned several works and even contributed a cartoon to one of Scholz's books.  Scholz was commissioned by Phillip H Morse, the co-owner of the Red Sox, to create a special piece for David Ortiz, better known as ‘Big Papi,’ the slugger who led the team to three World Series titles. Scholz he later presented the carving at Ortiz's Celebrity Golf Classic. Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a falconer himself, owns several pieces from Scholz. The first time Scholz crossed into six-figure territory came unexpectedly in the late 1980s, when a man in muddy boots and his teenage son wandered into his studio. Scholz nearly turned them away. Instead, he took a few minutes to show them his work. The visitor turned out to be Richard Slayton, a Chicago asset-management executive looking to commission a life-size bald eagle for his headquarters. Bald Eagle carving completed by Scholz in 2014 Working feather by feather, Scholz spends months perfecting each sculpture Scholz's workshop in Hancock, Vermont, where he lives half of the year 'I hung up the phone shaking,' he said. The eagle went on to win a world championship. 'That was when I thought,' he said with a smile, 'This bird carving thing might be okay.' Scholz works almost exclusively in Tupelo wood, a pale, stable timber harvested from Louisiana swamps.  It holds extraordinary detail and resists cracking, which is critical when a sculpture might take months to complete and travel across climates. His process is methodical and architectural: roughing out the form, defining feather tracts, carving individual feathers, sanding, sealing, painting, always from the ground up. 'You paint feathers like shingles on a roof,' he explained. Scholz has been a carver for over 60 years and is regarded as one of the best in the world Scholz's sculpture of a life-size Russian Berkut Golden Eagle created over a period of five months. The Eagle and rock base were all entirely carved out of Tupelo wood and it stands over four feet tall He finishes the head last, setting the eyes only when everything else is complete. 'I put an owl outside once to photograph it,' he said. 'When I came back, it was being attacked by blue jays and crows.' The birds believed it was a real predator encroaching on their territory. 'I remember thinking, "Well, you must be doing something right."' Despite decades of acclaim, Scholz said he's never experienced creative burnout. He keeps multiple pieces going at once, rotating between them when one reaches a mental standstill. 'I always have something calling me back to the studio,' he said. His work, whether a massive eagle in flight or a small chickadee, remains a deeply personal expression rather than an attempt at replication. 'I'm not a wooden taxidermist,' he said. 'I'm a sculptor. I take what nature gives and I push it just a little further.' Today, Scholz's work routinely sells before it's finished. He rarely has pieces available to display, often borrowing them back from collectors or museums for exhibitions. And even now, after 58 years, he insists none of it feels finished. 'If I didn't have deadlines,' he said, 'I'd still be adjusting one feather.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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