American farmer update "the Base"

Lately I have begun to look at have a separate base for my carvings just to mix it up some. As many may know, most of my carving bust the base is carved into the body of the carving. And as many may have noticed the American farmer doesn't have the base carved in so a base would need to be added. At first I was going to do a hay bale but then wasn't sure I could do one that looked right and then I took my dog to our vet. I have taken carvings in to show him in the past as he has an artistic side, so we have shared with each other our latest efforts in that regard. After his was done with our cat' we began talking music and carvings. I told him I would be putting this guy on a wood base and low and behold as if to affirm my original concept he said "what about a hay bale".

So a hay bale it would be, hopefully. Since I had just received a new shipment, I took a piece of butternut cut it into three pieces and began carving my first hay bale. I was hoping the grain of the butternut might add to the bale. I was not sure at first how many I would carve and how I would set them up so I had three pieces ready. After carving the main detail in I started pondering how I would set the farmer on the hay bale. Due to the multiple cuts to try and give the look of hay I realized he wouldn't have a large area to be secured too. So I decided I would have him inserted into the bale slightly. This would steady him up and to help secure him to the bale. So I took a sheet of paper, traced the outline of the bottom of the carving and transferred the shape to the hale bale. So like a puzzle piece he fit into the bale after a few adjustments.

Now though I was happy with this I thought it was missing something, I kept thinking back to some previous pictures I took of the farmer with a piece of wood behind it. I really liked the way the wood looked with the carving and on a sentimental note that wood came from my grampa's farm, actual pieces from his barn. He was an American farmer and I had great memories of the times spent on his farm. So to bring this together I took a smaller piece of the wood that I have to experiment with. I even used old school techniques in putting the two pieces together. Instead of nails or screws I drilled three holes and used wood dowels to secure the two pieces and all of a sudden I had a base. The finishing touches were more sentimental in nature. I have a piece of wood from my grampa's farm that had his brand for his cattle burned into the wood. So I replicated his brand into the board behind the farmer. I think it gave the old wood that little extra authenticity that makes this one special to me. Sometimes we carve for others, sometimes we carve for future sales and sometimes a carving is simply for ourselves beyond the joy of carving. That is the case with this one. I have a few little extras that I will try to incorporate in the next few days, but if I do nothing else to it, I am happy with this one, very much so.

as always happy trails

and

Carpe diem 4 carving