The Dragon Slayer Knife Cube is a holder for a knife whose blade is inserted into a slot in the top of the cube. The four sides and top in a three-inch cube of basswood is carved in a combination of relief carvings, chip carving and a simulated tattoo texturing.
Carving is an art form and art in its various forms is basically an “interpretation” of the imagination of the artist. Woody of Toy Story is a cartoon figure toy who became the subject carving project interpreting Woody as a caricature figure. In 2011 Jesse of Toy Story was carved as a caricature and now Woody has been carved to join Jesse as a caricature figure.
“Wood carving is the journey more than the destination,” is an observation made during the process of carving through the years. The “destination” represents the finished carving and the “journey” represents the process of the carving activity. It is this “journey” that brings the most joy of creating to the carver because once the project is completed the carver is anxious to begin another carving project to experience the journey.
Don Stephenson is a gifted artist with a creative mind and a generous spirit who recently drew carving ideas on the back of a mailing envelope. Four of these drawings became the inspiration for carving projects which were gifted by back to Don along with a Linus and Snoopy carving for his wife Peg.
An ORC is a mythical humanoid creature, generally described as brutish, aggressive and repulsive, stemming from the writings of J.R.R. Tolkiem, author of The Lord of the Rings. This carving of an ORC was carved in a seven-inch-tall by three-inch square block of basswood. The finish is artist oil paints mixed with boiled linseed oil and final coating of Deft.
Block Heads are carved inside a Friendship Cane segment measuring two inches square by three inches tall with a five eighth inch hole drilled down the center of the length of block. Carving is done with knives with curved cutting edges to facilitate the necessary slicing cuts in tight areas. The finish is artist oil paint Raw Sienna thinned with boiled linseed oil and then when the oil finish is dry Deft, a brushing lacquer is applied. Block Heads are another adaptation of Whittle Doodles carved by the WOOD BEE CARVER.
Imagine if you will that one day Santa is going to retire. In that imagination what will he look like and where will he make his retirement home? No one really knows but it is imagined that he would retire in warmer climate and because he is such a toy person he would be doing fun playful things in his retirement.
Art in its various expressions including wood sculpture always uses imaginative interpretation to present the subject of interest. This carving of Conan is such an interpretation girded with written descriptions and artistic pictures to aid the imagination of the carver to create. This is the story of the carving of this interpretation of Conan the Barbarian.