Hugh O’Neal of Munford, Alabama is a carving friend whom I met two years ago while teaching a carving class at Charlie Leverett’s Northeast Alabama carving studio. Hugh is a good example of the benefit of participating in a carving class in that he was inspired to grow in his carving abilities. Already an accomplished carver in his own right, Hugh learned a couple of “door opening” lessons that led him into his own room of creativity. The WOOD BEE CARVER’s method of teaching is to teach the “how-to’s and the method” while each student carves his own style. Hugh has done just that by taking a few of the simple step-by-step procedures to transpose his imagination into a very artist style as is evident by the photographs that follow. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for November, 2010
BOBBLE HEAD SANTA
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.
Gary Batte is one of the founding members of the Caricature Carvers of America. Recently, one of his carvings was accepted into the George W. Bush Presidential Library. His bio page from CCA may be viewed at this site http://www.cca-carvers.org/bio-pages/batte.html.
JOHN BURKE – Remembered
John Burke was remembered at the Artistry in Wood Show in Dayton, Ohio with a display of his signature carvings including the Caricature Scene of “Leroy’s Garage.” Noted for his Native American and Mountain Men carvings, John also created Santa carvings, bronzes and rustic Western furniture. Perhaps where he excelled the most was through his instructional advancement of woodcarving and the number of his students who became instructors in their own right. He and his lovely wife Nancy sponsored the long running Western Art and Wildlife Seminar as well as manufacturing the famous “Burke Sharpening System.” The woodcarving family remembers John with great affection and humorous anecdotes of John’s wit and fun loving ways. He has certainly carved a place in our room called “Remember.” A previous memorial tribute may be viewed in the January 30, 2010 posting under Carving Friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LAME DUCK – Revisited
As a follow up of the “Silent Auction” project for Artistry in Wood Show in Dayton, Ohio of carving a duck-that-is-not-a-duck out of a duck body rough out the photographs to follow will give an example of the creativity and imagination of wood carvers. Some carvers stayed fairly close to the original shape while carving thier imaginative ideas. Others carved away a lot of the excess wood to present a carving that fit into their realm of expertise. All in all it was a fun project with the proceeds from the silent auction being divided between the United Rehabilitation Services and the carver. United Rehabilitation Services is the chaity that the Artisty in Wood and Dayton Carvers Guild donate at least $5000 a year as a way to give the gift of carving back to the community in a very helpful manner. Woodcarvers are not “chiselers” but are generous in more ways that just carving. Read the rest of this entry »
Larry Baldridge of Cadet, Mo was presented a CCA Merit Award at the Artistry in Wood Show, Dayton, OH on November 13, 2010. The Award is presented to a carver who exemplifies the art of caricature carving and as an encouragement for the advancement of caricature carving. Left to right in the presentation photograph are CCA Members Joe Shumacher, Bruce Henn, Floyd Radigan, Award Recipient Larry Baldridge, Jack Williams and Don Mertz.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ELEVEN ELEVEN PROJECTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On this Veterans Day, 11-11-10 this posting will be a variety of carving projects carved and completed in the first half of the eleventh month. They include caricature faces carved into jewelry pins, Santa Pin Heads, two Pirates (three inches tall), two Cowpokes (six inches tall), three Civil War Soldiers (six inches tall), one miniature, a Santa Egg and a Santa Jewelry Pin. The photographic journey that follows speaks for itself. Read the rest of this entry »
LAME DUCK
The Artistry in Wood Show at Dayton, Ohio on November 13 and 14 2010 will include a “silent auction” of carvings carved from the body of a duck rough out. Participating carvers are to carve a “duck-that-is-not-a-duck” so the imaginative outcome should be very fun as well as interesting. The WOOD BEE CARVER chose to carve a relief portrait of an Indian with the tail feathers of the duck rough out becoming the feather head dress for the Indian. In the photograph at the left, the rough out has a rough pencil sketch of the face of an Indian penciled on what would be the back of the duck rough out. It appears that the rough out is made of tupelo gum wood since it is extremely hard and resists hand powered carving tools. It became necessary to spray a mixture of half water and half denatured alcohol or rubbing alcohol to soften the wood enough to use palm gouges.