Dean Browne is 80 and keeps on carving. When I walked into his South Palm Beach home, his wife, Paula, directed me to their terrace. Her husband was sitting in front of an oversized closet that serves as his studio.

Reluctantly, he put his knife down so we could talk. It was obvious, however, how much he longed to return to his carving.

"I carve six or seven hours a day, seven days a week. I only stop when Paula calls me to eat or take a little time out," he said. "I often walk the beach and find driftwood that I use as bases for my figures. Sometimes, I’ll even pick up coral or rocks and use them instead. A base is extremely important for displaying my work. It has to be solid and steady"

Browne also studies color photos, many of which he takes himself. His subjects include animals, birds and fish. He started carving, mostly airplanes and little boats, when he was 10.

"I really got serious and began carving boats and kayaks. I’ve always been fascinated with anything that had to do with water. I’ve been a sailor most of my life."

Browne has been carving full time since 1986 and exhibits in four or five craft shows, where he sells the figures he exhibits, often coming home empty handed. He has sold about 100 pieces a year ranging I price from $50 for small birds to $1,200. He takes special orders from customers who send him a photo and the dimensions of a subject they want him to carve. Currently, he has eight orders awaiting completion.

"A gentleman in London emailed me recently and said that his son had caught a 23 inch rainbow trout. His color photo showed me exactly what he wanted and when he received the completed carving, he was overjoyed and wrote me a delightful letter of appreciation." In the last 15 years, Browne has completed about 60 blue herons, many rainbow trout, big mouth trout, egrets, shore birds, blue birds, robins and others, totaling 1,400 pieces.

He was working on 1,401 when I met him.

Browne uses mostly basswood and carves with X-Acto knives and power grinders. He starts with a band saw to shape and finishes with fine precision sanders. He paints with acrylics, using light colors, and adds layers of paint until he is satisfied.

He was born in Columbus, Ohio, and interrupted his studies at Denison University to enlist in the Navy. He skippered a speedboat that could go 50 mph and is proud that he and his crew saved 29 airmen from drowning.

Browne returned to school under the V12 program and received a degree in history. He and his brother opened a home remodeling business in 1946.

In 1984, he retired from the operation and he and Paula sailed over 10,000 miles for two years in his 37-foot Irwin center-cockpit boat. They would pull into a harbor with chips all over the cockpit from his carvings. Passers-by would purchase his work and this helped finance their travels.

Their winter months have always been spent in Florida, away from the snows of Ohio. They purchased their condo in 1996.

"I would never allow myself to vegetate," he said. "Retirement is not a word I understand. I’m having too much fun."