SANTA’S WORKSHOP was displayed in public only for a few short years between 2002 and 2007 when it was sold to a private collector. The first five photographs displayed here were taken at the 2005 Artistry in Wood Show, Dayton, Ohio. Ray Kunz was the guiding influence of a small group of carving friends who designed, carved and assembled Santa’s Workshop. Read the rest of this entry »
The carving of Santa and Snowman in the middle of a wreath is a Harley Schmitgen design that was carved from one of his rough outs. This photograph was used as our Christmas card in 2009. My sister was so taken by the unique design that she commissioned me to carve two smaller versions of the Harley Schmitgen original. Harley, who is an Emeritus CCA member, is noted for his relief portraits carved out of two inch thick wood that looks like it is a much larger carving in the round. The two carvings that are the subject of this posting were each carved in the round out of a five inches tall by three and a half inches square block of basswood. Traditional gouge carving tools were used in this carving project. Read the rest of this entry »
Bobble Head Santa is a fun little project carved out of a basswood hen egg for the head and the body carved out of a three inch tall by an inch and half square block of basswood. The spring was made using stainless steel wire wrapped around a quarter inch diameter bolt and then epoxied to the head and the body. Artist oil paint and boiled linseed oil was the primary finish while the white fur trim of the hat and coat were painted with acrylic white paint.
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The WOOD BEE CARVER’s first love in carving is to carve with a knife in a style called “Whittle-Carving.” The Pirate Bobble Head is one of the Scrapper Series of using small scraps of wood to fulfill the “old carver’s law: Leave No Wood Un-Carved.” The Santa carved using a basswood hen egg is an often repeated design that has been done for several years. These “Whittlings” along with the photo gallery below represents some recent carving activity of “leave no time go to waste when one can be carving.” Read the rest of this entry »
A Step by Step Santa display was carved in 1998 to be used as an educational aid to show the progressive stages of how a Santa is carved from a block of basswood. In this model the basswood block is three quarters of an inch square by three inches tall.
Viewing from left to right the first step is to begin rounding off the top corners to begin shaping the stocking cap into the shape of a squashed down pup tent. Read the rest of this entry »
MERRY CHRISTMAS – 2009. The Santa and Snowman carving is encircled in a green wreath. The green wreath has been a symbol of the Gift of Love that is an unending circle and ever green with its continuous cycle of bringing New Life and Hope to all who discover being in the Circle of Love. CHRISTMAS is the celebration of the Gift of Love in Jesus Christ who is the continuous Love of God encircling all humanity. Christmas is a celebration of the Gift of Love in family and friends that continues to encircle us everyday.
Christmas is a celebration of Memories, timeless and yet ever circling with the newness of remembering love and friendship in all our relationships.
Christmas is a celebration of having our hearts carved with a lasting tribute of the gift of creativity, be it carving, be it making friendships or be it in giving love as we have been loved – the art of drawing a circle.
As Edwin Markham said, “He drew a circle that shut me out Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout But love and I had the wit to win; We drew a circle that took him in.”
A basswood ostrich egg was used to carve this Santa using traditional carving tools. Even though the WOOD BEE CARVER is primarily a knife carver, yet on occasions traditional carving tools will be used to carve larger projects. Basswood hen eggs have been used for whittle-carving projects using only a knife using the Santa theme. Under “NAVIGATION” on the left column of this web log there is a page entitled “WHITTLE FOLK EGGS – Carving a Wooden Egg” that shows the smaller version of egg carving. Also in the posting for November 22, 2008 there are two styles of Santa eggs used for a class project. Read the rest of this entry »
Santa sitting on a gift card was first carved in 2001 from an original design drawn by Glenn Stewart of Hawesville, Kentucky. It is carved out of half inch thick basswood approximately four inches high and wide. The size can be varied either a little larger or a little smaller. It is basically carved as a relief carving using traditional caving tools of small gouges, V tool and a knife.
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The carving of Santa and Snowman in the middle of a wreath is a Harley Schmitgen design that was carved from one of his rough outs. This photograph was used as our Christmas card in 2009. My sister was so taken by the unique design that she commissioned me to carve two smaller versions of the Harley Schmitgen original. Harley, who is an Emeritus CCA member, is noted for his relief portraits carved out of two inch thick wood that looks like it is a much larger carving in the round. The two carvings that are the subject of this posting were each carved in the round out of a five inches tall by three and a half inches square block of basswood. Traditional gouge carving tools were used in this carving project. Read the rest of this entry »
