Lone Wolf Redux 2 is an interpretation of an Indian with two feathers in his head dress. He is carved in a three-inch square by ten inches tall block of Butternut. The base is a half inch and the feathers above the head are a half inch tall making the Indian nine inches tall. He is wearing a buckskin shirt, leggings and a breech clouts. The pose of Lone Wolf has him in a pensive mood looking skyward as if reading the signs in the clouds or perhaps a deep in thought look to an elevated horizon. Such a pose gives a sense of movement as opposed to a statuary stance. In his left arm and hand, he is cradling a peace pipe as a symbol of his loyality to his heritage and sacred disposition.
The Civil War Soldier and the Cowpoke are two recent commissioned carving projects that offer an opportunity for a photographic visual tutorial on carving these classic subjects. The Wood Bee Carver is primarily a knife carver who uses this means of showing the process of Whittle-Carving a six-inch-tall figure.
DON MERTZ COLLECTION HELVIE KNIVES SIG SERIES 21 #0001 W/CARVED BLADE COVER (see photo) is the current knife listed on eBay. Since the Wood Bee Carver has retired from teaching and participating in carving shows he no longer carries an inventory of his Helvie Signature Series Knives. He is liquidating his personal collection of #1 and #2 of the Signature Series Knives as they were made by issuing three knives a week for the bidding process. Half way through the liquidation there are approximately 24 more knives to be listed. These knives were designed by the Wood Bee Carver with a curved cutting edge and specially designed shapes to aid in the Whittle-Carving process and made by HELVIE KNIVES. If interested is taking a look, go to eBay and search for “DON MERTZ COLLECTION HELVIE KNIVES…” to follow along the process.
Lone Wolf carving has appeared in earlier editions and this is the latest interpretation of this subject carved in Butternut measuring nine inches tall four inches wide and three inches deep. Every carving of the same subject takes on its own personality due to the creative interpretation process that evolves in the “design by carving” process.
This process begins with a block of wood with square corners that are rounded off beginning with the head portion of the carving. Once the head portion has been established the block is divided using the Rule of Three of body proportions into the three sections ~ Shoulder to Waist; Waist to Mid Knees; and Mid Knees to Bottom of feet. Into these three sections the arms, hands, legs, feet and clothing landmarks are drawn as guidelines. These guidelines guide the removal of wood while working towards the major part of the body.
Jim Hecker of Elk River, MN and I have been carving friends since 2009 when we met at the International Woodcarver Congress in Iowa and have shared a common bond of friendship through carving activities ever since. He has mastered his own style of Flat Plane carving into what I call the “Hecker Style.”
The first Fundamentalist was carved in 2002 out of a three inch square by six inch tall basswood block. In an August, 2008 entry of this blog ~ (click on) Carving “The Fundamentalist” to read the carving journey at that occasion. The opening introduction gave the premise for this themed carving which stated: “THE FUNDAMENTALIST” is a carving of a caricature interpretation of a strong-minded person who is so sure that what that person believes is the only truth and he has the proof to prove it at the end of where his finger is pointing. A fundamentalist could be a preacher, a politician, a lawyer or any opinionated person who sees things only one way, his way and wants to convince anyone who will argue with him the error of their way for not seeing things the way the fundamentalist sees things.
Hobos are colorful characters who in earlier years were commonly seen traveling around the country in what appeared to be the “easy life.” Historically they were originally “itinerant labors” who traveled from job to job wherever the jobs would lead them. There is a difference in the meaning of terms applied to these “sojourners of the road.” Hobos were once called “Hoe boys” who were agriculture laborers cultivating the fields with their hoes, thus the nickname. So “Hobos” would travel to find work. The tern “Tramp” was ascribed to those itinerant laborers who would travel the rail by catching a ride on trains. Other travelers through the country side riding the coat tails of the hobo and tramp way of life were called “Bums” because they would rather con and cheat off the generosity of kind-hearted folk than do any work. Bums gave the hobo and tramp a bad name for their less than honest profession.
This is a story of creative play in the making of the toys for carving in the form of carving knives. Why does this carver continue to make knives for personal use that far exceeds the accumulation of carving knives? The answer is the same as to why carve more of the same design of a carving subject? Why does a carver feel compelled to continue to carve beyond the need for more? Why accumulate more carving wood when there will not be enough time to use what is already on hand? The answer is in the meaning of “creative play” for the child within each of us to fulfill our imagination.