24
Mar
IVAN ~ the CARVER
A good carving friend who brings a smile not only through his outgoing personality but also through his unique carving creations that mixes a little humor into his characters is being showcased in this photo display.
2
Apr
WOODY of Toy Story
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.
11
Mar
The PROCESS JOURNEY
“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.
23
Feb
STEPHENSON COLLECTION
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.
4
Feb
BLOCK HEADS ~ Redux
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.
31
Jan
ART ON AN ENVELOPE
The drawing above was done by Don Stephenson on the back of a plastic bubble mailing envelope. Artist Don Stephenson of the Dayton, Ohio Carving Club amazes his friends and neighbors alike because whoever admires his creativity becomes an instant friend. He is very generous with his drawing art often giving a drawing to an admiring stranger as well as his many friends. He has always drawn since a young boy and benefited from art instructors who expanded his creative horizon. One of his jobs in earlier days was as an illustrator for the Yellow Pages telephone directory. His artistic creativity became very active to be able to respond to a wide variety of illustration subjects as needed for the directory. At carving meeting someone with mention an idea or a theme of a particular subject like a dragon, a skunk or a fish and Don will draw a themed illustration in the blink of an eye. Whenever he mails me some of his drawings of carving ideas he also draws on the outside of the envelopes. Early on in our friendship I gave him the moniker “The Idea Monster.”
19
Jan
THIN VERSUS FAT BEVEL
In an old Western border town jail two inmates are trying to loosen a bar in the window for a planned escape. Skinny weights a mere 170 pounds and Tiny weight 230 pounds. Finally, they loosened the middle bar enough that they wiggle it out and Skinny squeezes himself through the remaining bars. Tiny tries to squeeze through but is too fat and gets stuck half way out and half way in. Thus, the old saying, “Thin is in but Fat is where it is at,” came into play.