Rich Smithson who along with his wife Holli and daughter Skylar own and manufacture HELVIE KNIVES makes the Wood Bee Carver Signature Knives for me and is a collector of many of my carvings. As a jesture (that is a jest in a gesture) of good will I carved his “mug on a jug” to show he has aged since his birth. Good friends do things like this just for the fun of it and Rich is a good friend.
Dale Green of Holladay, Utah won Best of Show honors at the recent 2014 CCA Competition with his caricature carving “Don’t Drink and Drive.” He received the Best of Show trophy that was carved by Don Mertz and wood burning of the plaque by Rich Smithson of Helvie Knives. CONGRATULATIONS to Dale Green. Visit his blog at ~
http://www.dalegreenwoodcarving.blogspot.com/
A plumber riding a “plumber’s helper” like a pogo stick presents a humorous picture that is beyond reality and yet that is what makes humor out of the ridiculous. Caricature is “exaggeration of realism” making the theme of “Plumber Pogo” the subject of a caricature carving. (click on photos to enlarge.)
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Each year at the annual CCA Caricature Caving Competition ~ http://www.cca-carvers.org/ ~ held in Converse, Indiana one CCA member carves the Best of Show Trophy to be awarded to the winner of that distinction. This is my year to carve the trophy which is a carving of a Hobo holding a very large Blue Ribbon which is mounted on a cherry plaque which was wood burned by Rich Smithson of Helvie Knives. Read the rest of this entry »
A “Slug” is sometimes referred to as a “slow and lazy person” as in “sluggard.” It also refers to gulping down a drink, a type setting term used in the old printing business, a fist punch thrown in a fight, a bullet and a counterfeit metal disk inserted into an old time slot machine. In the case of HOBO “SLUGGS” the nickname is for a shiftless traveler of the road who is thought to be a lazy person but in this hobo’s case he is “slow” by never getting in a hurry as in taking life “slow and easy.”
Such a “slow and easy” temperament makes “Sluggs” a likable character who wiggles his way into the heart of everyone he meets. His outer appearance may show the wear and tear of the hobo way of life while the aura of his personality suggests that pretense does not always tell the true story. “Slow and easy,” is to savor each moment of the day, relish the strength of friendship and bask in the wealth of memories remembered and being made. Sluggs reminds us that we all cannot be footloose and fancy free but we can take life “slow and easy” by not taking ourselves so seriously by taking time to enjoy the journey instead of eying the destination that is often illusive. Read the rest of this entry »
Twelve students gathered together on June 20, 2014 to begin a three day class in Whittle-Carving at Leiper’s Fork, TN in the carving studio of Vic Hood. The students pictured above are (left to right – first row) Ray Rost, Vic Hood, Don Burgdorf, Tim Wright (second row)Gene Graham, Don Dunlap, Clem Kirsch, Rick Hardin, Clark Kirsch, Sandie Burgdorf, Buzz Friedli and Carson Salyer. Read the rest of this entry »
Twelve students gathered together on June 9, 2014 to begin a five day class in Whittle-Carving at Maquoketa, Iowa during the International Woodcarvers Congress competition and show. The students pictured above are (left to right – first row) Laura Reich, Don Mertz, Diane Guntzel, Charlie Arnold; (second row) Jim Hecker, Marc Featherly, Martin Linzy, Ted Lauf, Fritz Seybold, (third row) David Abler, Elmer Marting, Rodney Manthey, and David Meyer Read the rest of this entry »
Whittle Doodles are fun whimsical carvings that are carved with the prompting of imagination in a free hand manner using only a knife to create the various embellishments in a block of wood. This Whittle Doodle MAX was whittle-carved into a four inch square block of jelutong. The monochrome finish is artist oil paint Raw Sienna mixed with boiled linseed oil with a protective finish of Deft applied after the oil finish has dried. Read the rest of this entry »