John Burke was remembered at the Artistry in Wood Show in Dayton, Ohio with a display of his signature carvings including the Caricature Scene of “Leroy’s Garage.” Noted for his Native American and Mountain Men carvings, John also created Santa carvings, bronzes and rustic Western furniture. Perhaps where he excelled the most was through his instructional advancement of woodcarving and the number of his students who became instructors in their own right. He and his lovely wife Nancy sponsored the long running Western Art and Wildlife Seminar as well as manufacturing the famous “Burke Sharpening System.” The woodcarving family remembers John with great affection and humorous anecdotes of John’s wit and fun loving ways. He has certainly carved a place in our room called “Remember.” A previous memorial tribute may be viewed in the January 30, 2010 posting under Carving Friends.
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As a follow up of the “Silent Auction” project for Artistry in Wood Show in Dayton, Ohio of carving a duck-that-is-not-a-duck out of a duck body rough out the photographs to follow will give an example of the creativity and imagination of wood carvers. Some carvers stayed fairly close to the original shape while carving thier imaginative ideas. Others carved away a lot of the excess wood to present a carving that fit into their realm of expertise. All in all it was a fun project with the proceeds from the silent auction being divided between the United Rehabilitation Services and the carver. United Rehabilitation Services is the chaity that the Artisty in Wood and Dayton Carvers Guild donate at least $5000 a year as a way to give the gift of carving back to the community in a very helpful manner. Woodcarvers are not “chiselers” but are generous in more ways that just carving. Read the rest of this entry »
Larry Baldridge of Cadet, Mo was presented a CCA Merit Award at the Artistry in Wood Show, Dayton, OH on November 13, 2010. The Award is presented to a carver who exemplifies the art of caricature carving and as an encouragement for the advancement of caricature carving. Left to right in the presentation photograph are CCA Members Joe Shumacher, Bruce Henn, Floyd Radigan, Award Recipient Larry Baldridge, Jack Williams and Don Mertz.
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On this Veterans Day, 11-11-10 this posting will be a variety of carving projects carved and completed in the first half of the eleventh month. They include caricature faces carved into jewelry pins, Santa Pin Heads, two Pirates (three inches tall), two Cowpokes (six inches tall), three Civil War Soldiers (six inches tall), one miniature, a Santa Egg and a Santa Jewelry Pin. The photographic journey that follows speaks for itself. Read the rest of this entry »
The Artistry in Wood Show at Dayton, Ohio on November 13 and 14 2010 will include a “silent auction” of carvings carved from the body of a duck rough out. Participating carvers are to carve a “duck-that-is-not-a-duck” so the imaginative outcome should be very fun as well as interesting. The WOOD BEE CARVER chose to carve a relief portrait of an Indian with the tail feathers of the duck rough out becoming the feather head dress for the Indian. In the photograph at the left, the rough out has a rough pencil sketch of the face of an Indian penciled on what would be the back of the duck rough out. It appears that the rough out is made of tupelo gum wood since it is extremely hard and resists hand powered carving tools. It became necessary to spray a mixture of half water and half denatured alcohol or rubbing alcohol to soften the wood enough to use palm gouges.
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My wife Frances commissioned Harold Enlow to carve me one of his caricature carvings as a birthday gift earlier this month. I was very honored and appreciative to receive such a rare gift as an Enlow carving. Harold has long been one of my carving mentors long before I ever met him, then becoming his friend and now fellow Caricature Carvers of America member. The cowboy is three and a half inches tall by two inches wide and painted with acrylic paints.
Harold Enlow is the one person who has done more for woodcarving than any other single carver and yet he would not admit that since he is a humble and unassuming gentle spirit. So a Rare Gift of a carving that was carved by a Rare Gift to the carving world made my wife’s birthday gift even more rare. Thank you.
Spuds are short, stocky and spud like caricatures who chomp on a cigar. When the first one on the right in the photograph was carved it reminded me of a “spud” like character. Each subsequent look alike carving became another “spud” whose stance and demeanor take on an air of the kind of no nonsense kind of guy who gets the business done. While the first few “spuds” were under three inches, the later versions were carved out of a three inch tall by an inch and half square basswood block. Each is finished with a monochrome finish of raw sienna artist oil paint mixed with boiled linseed oil in order to emphasis that “texture is color” by allowing the carved texture to speak for itself.
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As a follow up of the “Silent Auction” project for Artistry in Wood Show in Dayton, Ohio of carving a duck-that-is-not-a-duck out of a duck body rough out the photographs to follow will give an example of the creativity and imagination of wood carvers. Some carvers stayed fairly close to the original shape while carving thier imaginative ideas. Others carved away a lot of the excess wood to present a carving that fit into their realm of expertise. All in all it was a fun project with the proceeds from the silent auction being divided between the United Rehabilitation Services and the carver. United Rehabilitation Services is the chaity that the Artisty in Wood and Dayton Carvers Guild donate at least $5000 a year as a way to give the gift of carving back to the community in a very helpful manner. Woodcarvers are not “chiselers” but are generous in more ways that just carving. Read the rest of this entry »
