YEAR END PROJECTS

Some of the carvings I have made in the last two years have ended up in the fireplace -- and, deservedly so. While the projects served a good purpose (learning from mistakes), they were so poorly done that they deserved a fiery ending. (By the way, Basswood burns very well. I burns up completely and therefore doesn't leave cinders or burned out wood behind.)

All of the above being said, I've discovered some of the later projects have been somewhat redeemable with some more carving. The following head - the Volga Boatman - demonstrates what I mean.

 

If you look at this dude from the side, you would see that I carved his ears way too low on his head, his mouth and jaw are protruding too far, he doesn't have much of a neck, and his forehead makes him look like a Cro-magnon. (Problems pointed out to me by my very talented and observant son, Jess.) So, after letting the boatman sit around for awhile, I decided to do some changes on the unfortunate caveman.

This is the result: A high school dropout who owns a service station somewhere in rural America, who also like's to chew on and smoke a General MacArthur pipe - and is obviously a 49er's fan.

 

 

I couldn't repair the Cro-magnon  head without cutting it off and gluing in a piece of wood as a spacer -- too much work. I did, however, cut off the ears, glued two new pieces on and re-cut tht ears. As to assessing the value of this waste of time, one would have to say that at best, this is very whimsical. Eh, what the heck.

Here are a few more projects of the past couple of months.

 

I went nuts doing Santa Clauses (among other things) the last couple of months.

This one was both a bunch of fun and difficult because of the left arm and the bottle of fizzy water.

 

 

This Santa I gave to a neighbor who goes nuts with Christmas every year. That is to say, she leaves the Christmas tree up until February some years. When I asked her whether she preferred the European or American Santa, she said American. So I carved her a 1959's vintage Coca Cola Santa holding on to, what else, a bottle of Coke.

This guy was also fun and presented it's own problems (the fawn at his feet). The block of wood I was carving wasn't wide enough for the fawn, so I had to glue another piece of wood onto the block before I started. 

  

This guy is a bit more European and obviously has a way with the animals. He's in Saint George at my brother's home now.

NEW DIRECTIONS

I finally took a chance on carving a Cypress Knee. Cypress trees put out horizontal roots from which new trees grow. They new growth looks like a stalagmite. Wood suppliers harvest the knees and sell them to wood supply stores after the wood is cured.

 

It is very light and soft wood. It is so soft that cuts across the grain just compress the wood fiber regardless of how sharp the blade is that one is using. (Power carving the wood with a nice burr is best.)

Anywhoooo.....  Here are a couple of Cypress Knee carvings:

Number one:

This guy's name is OHM. He's the wizard of all things electrical. (Pun intended - You can read about the German physicist, Georg Simon Ohm.) This carving is living in my oldest son's home in Tucson, who just happens to be an electrical engineer. (Hence the wizard's name.) I know -- bad joke, but my son, Jake liked it.

 

 

The little girl in the picture is Megan,

my granddaughter. She likes Ohm's 

eyes.

Number two:

 

 

This bloke was a white elephant gift at our annual Christmas party. He's living in a neighbor's home now. I told the new owner that I intended on naming him "Gregor Vox - Master Singer and bringer of music." (Gregor as in Gregorian chants and Vox, Latin for voice) Sort of appropriate since the new owner was our children's piano teacher and is a fine musician in her own right.

 

 AND, FINALLY --

I'm not sure whether I posted this tree spirit in the past or not. He's more that an year old (carving age). He's make of cherry wood and I had to do him entirely with the power carving tools. (Cherry is a hard wood - too hard for my hand tools any way.) If he appeared previously, many pardons.

 

 

No name for this carving. Maybe "Ugly" would be most appropriate. 

 

More slaughtered and mangled carvings to follow - but, next year.

KAZING!

Last Friday and Saturday (Oct. 16 & 17) was the 10th annual Utah County Wood Carvers show and contest.

This year I entered four projects. The judging occurred Friday morning and then they opened the doors to the public at noon. I hurried down so that I could see how the projects did in the judges eyes. I must admit I was just hoping that I could receive a ribbon or two. I just about fell over when I discovered that three of the carvings won Best of Division awards. Kazing! Shazam! Wahoo!

Anyway, here they are: (photography courtesy of my nephew, Bruce)

This is "Woody Nelson"

You can't see it but the

top of the stand looks 

like a stage. So, the rest 

of the title says, "On 

the stage again"

 This is a reversal on all

the carvers who use 

chain saws to carve 

bears into tree stumps.

 This is "Beau Behr" the carving

bear with a studio in Jackson

Hole, Wyo.....

 This is a rip off of a painting done

by a sister in law who lives in 

Mesa, Arizona.

 She painted a young girl, sitting on

the grass reading her scriptures. I added

the scripture tote so that there was more

to the carving.

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These are pictures that my niece took Saturday

afternoon at the show. You can see what the 

carvings looked like on the table.

 

This isn't a carving... Just yours truly

behind a table at the show doing some

damage to a piece of basswood.

 The judges were feeling generous with this

particular carving. There are five categories

they use in judging, and they score from one

to ten, depending on their assessment. This

carving they gave 10's in all five categories.

 My favorite black bear -

 with a carving studio in Jackson Hole,

Wyoming.

 Man, if there ever was a town deserving

of being called a hole, it's Jackson Hole.

 You can see that besides a blue ribbon, the

best of division ribbon was a bit more Showy

 - and,collectible.

LONG TIME NO POST!

It's not that I haven't carved anything in a long while. In fact, I've probably been much too occupied with carving. It's that it's just too much of a pain in the shorts to make a post. So, while my shorts are in pain, I'll post a couple of projects I've done lately -- among many carvings.

I've taken up instrument making - guitar making specifically (that makes me a Luthier! - not to be confused with a Lutheran). This instrument is actually only 9 inches long and has nylon filament fibers (that's better known as leader for fishing) for the strings. This is part of another project that I will be using in October for the Spanish Fork carving show and competition. You'll have to come to the Veteran's building to see it.

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This here's Gomer Klaus from the Ozarks. He's made out of "found wood" (a carving category), Cottonwood, actually. I "found" Gomer in our wood pile waiting to be burned in our fire place. I rescued him from certain death by oxidation!There are blemishes in the wood because the tree was killed by borers (damn insects!) Hence, the divot out of Gomer's nose is not a carving error. I's where a borer had a long lunch. By the way, Gomer will be at the carvers' show also.

 To get an idea of his size -

 my lovely daughter, Sharon

 is holding his Klausness.

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This is my Happy Volga Boatman.

He's happy because he's either nice and warm,

 or, he's full of Vodka.

Maybe he's both... Vodka will do that I hear.

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AND ANOTHER STINKING, ER, SLEEPING

BEAR.

This is the grown up version of the one I made a year ago or more. However, he's not power napping anymore. Now, he's just an old duffer that has assumed the "High Priestly Position" after the three hour block.

By the way, He's now living with a deputy who works in the Rexburg, Idaho jail. Said deputy accommodated us in her palace in the country side when our Sharon graduated earlier this year. (Seriously, her home was very lovely and the area outside of Rexburg where she lives is very attractive. "Kinda made me think about moving to the area --- except that we got quite enough of blizzard snow and winds while living in Anchorage.

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 LASTLY AND LEASTLY!

Der Heutiger Zeitgeist

 If you know what the German word "Zeitgeist" means, you can modify it with the adjective "current." You need to enlarge this tree spirit to see his mouth to understand why he is reflective of the current Zeitgeit. (He's also currently living in Mesa, Arizona - unless he's been burned or thrown out.)

DWARVES (SORT OF)

These carvings aren't finished. I have to apply a coating of boiled linseed oil to seal the wood, and I have to apply some coloring. So, take them for what they are.

I modeled them after the dwarfs in the new Hobbit movies, except they aren't armed with weapons of war. These carvings, with several more, are part of an intended entry in the wood carving show in Spanish Fork in the fall. I will be putting them in a display with background, etc. -- You'll just have to come to the show in October...

Front and side views

Same

A female of the species

This is supposed to be an ax man

or forester. I carved him with a 

bald head, which looked terrible,

so, I carved a Russian winter hat

and glued it on. I'm not sure that

it looks any better.

SOME MORE "NEW" STUFF

First of all -- I've been out of commission for nearly 6 weeks, thanks to back surgery (three vertebrae fused). So, my output has been severely curtailed, to say the least. I did, however, do a couple of projects between aching and paining...

SISTER ORTIZ' FOX

The little vixen above I actually finished around Christmas for one of the full time sister missionaries working in our stake. She's Sister Ortiz, and hails from the Dominican Republic.  She's too cute to tell no, so she's now the owner of a fox -- missionaries aren't supposed to have pets, eh?

TREE SPIRIT

This is, without a doubt the best "tree spirit" I've done so far. This spirit now resides in the house of a friend, a neighbor, and a linguistics prof. at BYU. I told him if he didn't want it, he could always start a fire in his fire place and use the spirit for kindling.

 DEMANDING WOOD

I'm always kidding people that the "wood" dictates what it wants to be. Actually, I'm not kidding. If I let the carving "go where it wants", rather than trying to dictate what it should look like, I usually end up with something entirely different that I started out to do.

These next two carvings are exactly what I'm talking about.

A SOLDIER FROM THE 20th MAINE

This started out to be a carving of a "Moses" character until the scarf band on the head went terribly awry. While removing the band and reducing the size of the cranium, it started looking like the hat from a civil war soldier... go figure. So, I copied a few pictures from the Internet, and away I went - or, away it went.

This soldier is now in the home of a best friend in Orem, Ut. He and I worked together at the County Recorder's Office for over 30 years.

CASEY AT THE BAT

  Now! I didn't intend on this carving looking anything like this. It was supposed to be a wood spirit. But, as I removed the beard to remove a Santa resemblance, I ended up with a player from the 1895 New York Yankees baseball team -- except, the mustache is from a little earlier in the 1800's. But, what the heck. Call it artistic license.