WOODCHIP HAVEN: November 2014

NEW NAME AND CHANGES

I DON'T KNOW IF CHANGE IS ALWAYS GOOD, BUT I FELT LIKE IT WAS TIME TO CHANGE THE NAME ON THIS BLOG. I'M STILL A CAMPBELL - AND GRATEFUL FOR THE SCOTTISH HERITAGE. I'M ALSO STILL CARVING, SO I AM DEFINITELY A CARVER, BUT ONLY BY HOBBY. I JUST WISHED I HAD STARTED THIS HOBBY ABOUT 50 YEARS AGO. WHEN I THINK OF ALL THE TIME I WASTED WATCHING THE STUPID BOOB TUBE, IT MAKES ME WANT TO HEAVE! AND, THINK OF ALL THE CUTS AND WOUNDS I MISSED OUT ON....

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TWO GREAT PHILOSOPHERS FROM NASHVILLE, TENN. ASKED TWO GREAT AND LOADED QUESTIONS BACK IN 1958 ON ONE OF THEIR RECORDINGS. THE QUESTIONS WENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS:

HOW MUCH WOOD COULD A WOODCHUCK CHUCK
IF A WOODCHUCK COULD CHUCK WOOD?

HOW MUCH WOOD WOULD A DINOSAUR SAW
IF A DINOSAUR COULD SAW WOOD?

(HOMER AND JETHRO)

LUCKILY, MY HOBBY OF WOOD CARVING HAS ALLOWED ME TO CONTEMPLATE AND FINALLY RECEIVE ANSWERS TO THOSE TWO GREAT QUESTIONS OF LIFE. NOW, IF YOU WANT THE ANSWERS, YOU'LL HAVE TO GET RID OF YOUR CURRENT HOBBY (PROBABLY EITHER YOUR SMART PHONE OR THE BOOB-TUBE) AND START CARVING WOOD. (WOOD SPIRITS DON'T TALK TO THE IMPURE. YOU HAVE TO BE INTIMATELY INVOLVED WITH WOOD -- AND NOT THE WOOD BETWEEN YOUR EARS.)

JUST A WORD OF WARNING -- WHILE YOU ARE CARVING, THE WOOD WILL START TALKING TO YOU. THE WOOD WILL TELL YOU (AS YOU ARE TRYING TO CARVE SOMETHING SPECIFIC) TO NIX THE PROJECT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO AND DEMAND THAT IT BE MADE INTO SOMETHING ELSE!!!) REALLY! I'M NOT KIDDING!

Saturday, November 29, 2014

TIGER TIGER BURNING BRIGHT...

This large "opus" has been in the works literally for months. It started out as what should have been a small carving. But, because the wood was so blasted hard (hard basswood!?), I did the initial carving with a power carver and it turned into something about twice as large as I anticipated.

To finish it, I've had to cut a place in a larger "piece" of wood and insert the original carving into it -- easier said than done. Believe me, there have been a few times when I was ready to throw this beast into the fireplace and burn it up! But, I've been to lazy to carry it into the living room, so I have just been tossing it to the side and picking it back up again after I have finished another project.

Well, here's what it looks like after the color---