something new to carve

So has anyone carved a "peek-a-boo Santa"? Well I was given a cut-out of one and shown some pictures of how they are normally carved. Yet as many of my family and friends know, I am not always normal. It must be the cartoonist in me that hampers this.




So here is how it's supposed to be done; normally you carve Santa's face peeking out of the tree, so this is done as a relief carving. As we talked about how most people carve this, I continued to look at the silhouette and began to see a completely different face in the wood, mostly the nose and then of course the ear. It seemed so obvious I just had to carve what I saw, that's just how it's done, at least in my mind.



So the first one was carved and I was really happy with how he came out. But as I was gifted two of these, I thought I would carve one my way and then carve the other as it was set-up to be carved to join in with the fun of the other carvers. "But something happened on the way to the forum" and once again I began looking at the wood silhouette and it hit me.



I did it backwards, that side was where the ear should be carved after all it's the better ear. Then this side would make a great nose and well, here we go again, what fun. So as you can clearly see I never carved a "peek-a-boo Santa" but that's OK, I can always cut one out and give it another try. Who knows what I will end up with the next time I try this. After all it's all in how you interpret what's in the wood. Michelangelo once said; "Every block of stone has a statue inside of it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."

as always, 

Good night and May God bless

scrap wood and cutouts, butternut style

So in the past few days heading into Christmas I played around with a new knife I had been gifted and a few pieces of some scrap wood, and one cut out. Not only had the time in the evenings to carve them but also got them painted.


The cowboy has already headed on to his new home and the other two's fate is yet to be determined.

 All three were carved out of butternut and for most carvers this wood is left unpainted due to the beautiful grain. I on the other hand love the look the wood has when it has been painted and the way the pores of the wood can show through and give the carving a nice vintage look. Butternut is a wonderful wood either way, so if you have never carved with it, you might want to give it a try.

 This little guy was carved from a pattern I designed and will have in my pattern book that should be published in the up coming month, "Lord willing and the creek don't rise". He is only 1 inch thick and  just shy of 4 inches long.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year

as always, 

Good night and May God bless

So I tried this yesterday and will try again today. Folks have wondered what I have been up to lately well this is a pictorial rundown of my recent efforts.

as always, 

Good night and May God bless

I finished off another one pt II

 So yes the other day I stated emphatically that I was done carving and would begin painting. Since then I carved two more before beginning the painting process. I carved one more Santa and then I carved a hillbilly Christmas ornament. I am having a good season thus far but it is cutting into what I had laid out for the month of November. Now December and the Christmas season is upon us and I have begun to say this and that will and won't get done this year. But you know what, that's OK. Sometimes we forget that we can come up with a game plan but nothing in life is etched in stone and we can't always accomplish all that's in front of us because we simply can't predict what the future holds.


 So the much anticipated book may not hit the shelves until the first of next year and the number of carvings I will carve for this season may end up being more than planned, but that too is just fine. A good friend recently told me "don't let it stress you, this is not the season of stress yet the season of joy". We all need to make decisions every day, what will yours be? I will choose to leave all the stress behind me as best I can for as Scrooge said "I am a mere mortal, I am liable to fall". The truth is that we are all mere mortals and fall prey to all the stress of each season. But this one is of Joy and Hope if we choose to believe.

as always, 

"Good night and May God bless"

I finished off another carving last night and that brings me to 4 that need painting so today should be the day I stop carving and paint some new ornaments. I also have this guy singing that needs some color as well.




Maybe he's singing a Christmas carol or he's from back in the day when rock n roll was rock n roll. Either way He will need some color as well and will include him in my painting session.

Then I will need to put down the bass wood and knives and make some head way with completing my book. You know I am beginning to believe that I may not be good at multi tasking any more, maybe I never was.

as always, 

Good night and May God bless

the holiday season pt 2

I got the carving from the previous post painted along with a few others recently. I am trying to keep up with my shop and keep some carvings in there during the Christmas season. I also got two more carvings carved out and will be carving one or two more before my next painting process. I like to paint up three to four at a time due to the process of acrylics and the way that I layer my colors. Since my time down at Hickory, hanging out and carving with the likes of Dwayne Gosnell, Mitch Cartledge and Kevin Applegate it seems I can see some improved way I carve the faces of my ornaments and characters. This is what all carvers hope for to see some improvement and growth in my carvings. Yet I still have a book to get out and will soon have to call an audible and get the finishing touches completed and the book out there and published. I will give updates as they become available.

as always, 

Good night and may God bless