A Viking Begins a Journey

So I was asked some time ago to fix up a stick that had been carved in the shape of a Viking. There was not enough room to do any modifications that would make it look acceptable to me. So I cut the head off drilled a hole for a large dowel to epoxy a piece of basswood to the existing stick with a Butternut spacer between them. The horns and the helmet rivets are Butternut. The horns were reinforced with superglue. I added a lanyard with a blood knot for the stick holder to hang on to. Of course no stick would be complete without a brass and stainless steel hiking tip to keep it protected from the rough trail. There is also an interchangeable rubber tip for when you want to do some mall adventures! The lower half of the stick is Diamond Willow.

Artistry in Wood Continued

My Santa tree topper carved for the Artistry in Wood ornament raffle tree. Also three photos of carvings on the Out West woodcarving booth hosted by Lynn and Judy Doughty

Dayton Artistry in Wood

A few carvings on display at Artistry in Wood 2015. These wonderful pieces were carved by Fred Zavidil from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Fred has a website http://www.fredzavadilwoodcarving.com and you can see more of his fabulous work both realistic and caricature. Enjoy

Some Time

Time has slipped away and another memorable summer with lots of bike rides and trips to strange places, some nicer than others is behind us. The biking weather has turned ugly and I only need about 40 odd km to reach my yearly goal of 10000km. Some snow has fallen and the high mountains are not a place you want to be this time of year. Down in the Valley we are enduring copious amounts of rain. Sometimes 100 mm at a time. Good time to catch up with reading carving and other sedentary persuits. I have finished another five or six Christmas ornaments. So that is a good thing. If you get a chance go to the Dayton Artistry in Wood show there is abut as much as one could possibly see related to Carving, Turning, and Fine Furniture building. Hope to see you there The show is next weekend November 14 and 15 at the Dayton International Airport. It is around the backside of the airport at the Airport Expo Centre. The Show opens at 10 AM both days. For more info here is a link to the Show page on the club website. http://www.daytoncarvers.com/artistryinwood.html

Tree Topper for the Christmas Tree at Dayton Artistry in Wood

Tree Topper for the Christmas Tree at Dayton Artistry in Wood

Carving Wooden Thread Spools

I recently received a collection of wooden spools from an older lady who was down sizing and moving into a retirement complex. I learned she was not sewing anymore. Since wooden spools are not to common anymore and are dated I think that she may have given up the hobby some time ago. I started carving the spools and here are the first four of hopefully many. Maybe by the time I get through this collection I will be a more proficient carver.

Cottonwood Bark Carving

Well I haven't posted to much here in the last while and a long while it is. I have been doing more stuff on the club blog and some of it was my own. I figured it was time to post about my own carvings on my this blog. So here are a couple of my recent carvings. The inspiration for these carvings comes from my fellow club members. They have ask me to teach a course on Cottonwood Bark carving. So with the help of my good friend and fellow carver Larry we have been advising club members on how to build a house that a hobbit would be proud to live in. Here are two small houses that I carved as we went along with demonstrations of the various elements that could be included in a Bark home. I used the pieces that no else seemed to want because they seemed too small or flawed. They turned out all right.

Creativity

A writer sits behind the typewriter and types "It was a dark and stormy night" and than nothing happens...  They are predicting a stormy weekend and I am glad all my major rides for the season are done. Now I can be out for an hour and be done with the wet and cold. If I need to I can call for a ride.
I am back tracking.

You want to carve something but you don't know what. For a carver you sit there with a piece of wood whatever the size and you try to visualize what you might do with it. Do you go back and draw it out or do you model it in clay? I try to visualize in my head what I want to carve and than let my hands take me there. It has made for some interesting carvings over the years. I still find that when I carve something from my idea I have more fun with it. If I use a rough out I give myself permission to carve it my way. It makes it easier to complete. I also am not disappointed when it does not turn out the same as the original. I have been complemented that my carving was better than the original. Of course this is not a two week process. It takes years of practice. Sometimes you just whittle away for a while and just make a pile of chips. It is still time well spent. The bottom line says it all.

When I say that I quote Don Mertz  "The more One Carves the Better One Carves" and "It is about Enjoying the Journey."

Carved in Fort Saskatchewan Alberta for the Appelts (in laws) of my Niece(Tania) the day after her wedding.  The wood is freshly cut Diamond Willow from the banks of the Saskatchewan River.