“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.
Slow and Easy Does It is the conscious way this old carver approaches the carving process. Carving this Magi was an opportunity to listen to this Wise Man as he was being carved as he reminded me to take it “slow” and “easy” in order to enjoy the journey. The photo journey of the completed Magi invites a slow and easy visual journey to study the overall views from all angles and to listen to what the Wise Man might say to us.
Carving a new subject is always a challenge that leads down the learning path that makes the challenge a worthwhile endeavor. The fact of the matter is that every carving project whether a familiar subject or a new subject is always a learning experience both of the subject and of the actual process of the carving technique. A recent commission carving of the subject of a Samurai Shogun Warrior offered the opportunity to learn from the challenge of a new subject.