Merry Christmas (belated) and Happy New Year!!!

     WOW! I did not realize it had been over a month since I posted. Must be getting old in my old age!
     Anyway, it has been a busy time here, getting things done, shopping and generally staying busy. I had a few carvings to get out of the way, and I have been busy with family duties. We had my father-in-law move in with us to prepare for his own place, which he will be moving into at the end of the week.
     So I have been able to do some carvings. Most of these are in preparation for the Idaho Artistry in Wood Show in February. Two of our members have challenged the Idaho Woodcarving Guild carving club members to carve more entries. To participate in the "5-Section Challenge" (because there are 5 sections in our show), each carver must enter at least one carving from each section. The sections are: Section 1 - Birds; Section 2 - Animals; Section 3 - Humans; Section 4 - Miscellaneous; Section 5 - Ethnic/Cultural. 
     So far, I have concentrated on the carving sections that I am not that experienced with, such as birds, or miscellaneous. That takes more time than doing the things I am experienced with such as animals, caricatures, etc.
     For my Section 5 entry, I did an Inca mask .

     For my Section 1, I did a stylized bird. I will be the first to admit, I am not a bird person. You should see my first attempt.

     For one of my miscellaneous entries, I decided to do a Japanese Peace gate, sort of an entrance to a Japanese Peace garden. The symbol is Japanese for peace.

      For another one of my entries in the Miscellaneous section, I did a relief carving of a samurai warrior.

     For another one of my entries in the Miscellaneous section, I did two woodburnings (pyrography). This bird turned out pretty well, if I say so myself. 
 

      For this woodburning, I chose a drawing of a mountain scene. I believe all of these have turned out pretty well. I had never done much woodburning, except for on a carving, to emphasize the shadows, or to clean up fuzzies deep in a cut. But I have found out that I enjoy creating a picture with just wood and a hot tip of a woodburner. I will be teaching a class for the club in January for woodburning.
     I did this small bear with a cutout provided for me by my friend, Dave Disselbrett in Oregon. It turned out well, so I decided to turn it into a fan bear from my school, Meridian Middle School, complete with the school colors. He looks great.

     I will be teaching several classes through the WoodCraft store in Boise. In January, the class is a Chinese symbol (letter). In February, I will be doing a class on dogs. And in March, I will teach a class on boots. Hopefully, we can get some folks introduced to a new hobby that they will enjoy. The classes will be offered through the WoodCraft store as well as through the Community Education classes in the Boise School District.
     Anyway, thanks for listening. Happy New Year! Let's make 2014 a year of wonderful times, great times with friends, and daily taking the opportunity to spread God's word.

Family carvings and family reunions

     Due to a busy, whirlwind few weeks, I have not had time to post. I finished a few carvings, wrapped around a remodeling project for my father-in-law, who moved in with us, a craft fair and a trip to Tennessee to see my family. 
     I did a few carvings, one for my father and one for my brother. I delivered them during a family reunion (for my dad's birthday) this past weekend and they really enjoyed the carvings.
     Here is a banjoman carved for my brother, Jimmy. He started learning how to play a banjo about 4-5 years ago, after a lifetime of wanting to learn how to play. I am so proud of his ability to learn something new, and he is pretty good at it, too!

     Here is a photo of me at the Meridian Middle School Craft Bazaar. We did not do as well as we wanted, but it gave me some pocket money to go to Tennessee and visit family. More on that below.

     This is a photo of a Shawn Cipa inspired Nativity scene I carved for my sister-in-law. She loved it!

     This is a carving of a mechanic I carved for my father, Jim. He just turned 77, and we had a family reunion on his birthday. We had a great time. I was able to reconnect with family members I had not seen in a long time, some of them more than 20 years.

     We also traveled to Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and stopped at Smoky Mountain Woodcarvers, owned and operated by Mac Proffitt.

     All in all, it was a great visit, catching up with family and reconnecting with loved ones. We hope it is not another 20 years before we visit with family again.
     Anyway, thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy the pictures.Comments are always welcome.

Memorial post to Amy Linkert

 For those who knew her, she was a sweet soul and a dedicated friend and carver. Amy passed away last month while on a day hiking trip in the Craters of the Moon Park, in Arco, Idaho. She had been out day hiking with her friend Jo Elliot-Blakeslee, who is still missing today.

This was one of the last of Amy's carvings. This carving was of a white buffalo, with some embellishments on the background.

 Here, Amy was sitting in a class with some of the members of the Idaho Woodcarvers Guild. The class was carving faces, hosted by Gene Fuller. In this picture, Amy is chatting with Ken Peterson.

 In this picture, Amy is carving in Dave Stetson's class. She is working on a mountain man designed by Dave Stetson. Amy later finished the carving and it was one of her best, which is saying a lot about the carving.

Amy, we already miss you. We know you are teaching a carving class in Heaven. I hope the angels enjoy your company as much as we did while you traveled among us.

Busy, busy, busy

Like everybody else, it has been a busy time around these parts. I have finished a few carvings, but many have not been painted. I started a woodcarving/woodworking club at school (6th-8th graders), and have taught two classes for Woodcraft (through the Community Education program of the Boise School District). Here are a few carvings.

 These horses are my version of Dave Stetson's caricature horse. I changed some things to suit me.

 I carved this little guy from a blank that I got from Dave Disselbrett in Salem, Oregon when I went to the Tri-Cities Woodcarving Rendezvous in June 2013.

 This fella is a companion to my red-headed cowgirl I carved some time ago. I will have to put them on a base together.
Anyway, I hope you like them. More coming later.

2013 Western Idaho Fair

Several of the Idaho Woodcarvers Guild members have participated in carving demonstrations at the Western Idaho Fair, in Garden City. A good time was had by all as we talked to others about our art and showed carvings off that we had completed. Several of our members also entered the carving competitions and placed in woodcarving categories. Those members included Doug Rose, Jason McKinnon, Don Brigham, Gene Fuller, Dale Shoemaker, Dale Parsons, and Eric Owens. Past members who placed include Dorian Wheaton and Lennie Williams. Overall, it was a great showing for the Fair and the club members. 

One of my favorite things: carving.

                                                  Having a great time!

                 Jason McKinnon carving one of his great zombie bark carvings, although by the time he finished this, I believe he turned it into a wood spirit. Either way, a great job!

 Just a few of my carvings on display, except for the bark house and the zombie carving. Those belong to Jason.

 Jason did the bark houses, and I did the busts, along with the cowboys at the bar. That is one of my favorites.

Craft Fairs and Art Festivals

So, we had great hopes for selling some stuff at the Nampa Festival of the Arts, last weekend, but it was not to be. We sold less than $150 worth of carvings, after spending almost $125 to get set up for it. Quite disappointing, as far as sales go, if I do say so myself. But we did have a good time talking to others about our art, and visiting with friends who stopped by to offer encouragement and a nice hug!

I did have two heroes and friends of mine stop by and visit the booth. Ted Smith, a world famous bird carver from here in Idaho (Nampa) wished me well. His carvings are so amazing. Check out his work at http://deerflatwildfowlartstudio.weebly.com/. 

And my good friend Cleve Taylor (http://www.cca-carvers.org/bio-pages/taylor.html) came by with his wife, Sandy and his grandkids. Cleve wished me well, and stated that he had tried desperately to make a living in the 1980's and 1990's just by selling carvings, but ultimately realized that it was extremely hard to make a living just by selling carvings, unless they were of the highest quality and aiming towards a specific market, such as wildlife, sculptural and architectural. 

I feel better after talking to him about my struggles to sell a few carvings. If you see my carvings, they are heavily influenced by all the times I spent at Cleve's house and workshop, and by sitting with him at our Idaho Woodcarvers Guild club meetings, as well as our weekly Thursday carving sessions at the Woodcraft store in Boise. If Cleve Taylor, who is a member of the Caricature Carvers of America, and who has written several how-to carving books, struggled with selling his carvings, how can I expect to do any better?

But I will still try. I love carving so much, and even if I never sell another carving, I will just give them away and make someone's day better. I can send them off as gifts to friends, colleagues and family, as well as donating some to good causes. And I will continue to promote the art of woodcarving, hopefully picking up a few commissions along the way.

I did speak to a young lady who wanted a Wonder Woman carving, as well as a very nice couple who wanted a carving for their friend who will be retiring soon. I have a few ideas for writing a few books about carving, so I better get cracking on those carvings, so I can take some great pictures. I am continuing to teach classes at Woodcraft, and will be starting a woodcarving club after school at our middle school, Meridian Middle School this year. All of that should be a great deal of fun, passing on all the training and education I have received from other great carvers. 

I do have another craft show in November at Meridian Middle School on November 2nd and 3rd. Let's hope we have better success at that show than we did at the Nampa Festival of Arts. 

See ya there!

Honey-do projects!

I have been busy this past week. I have been putting down the sandstone rocks on the porch to finish the top. What a job! My daughter Beth has helped me this week, working a few hours each day before it got to temperatures of almost 100. My wife and son helped out on the weekends to help finish it up. Between the porch, the shop and (hopefully) next the kitchen, it has been a busy summer. I have not been able to ride my bike, go hiking or take many walks. Oh well!

FINISHED!

 

Gone hoboing!!!

Lately, I have been doing a few hobos. They are good practice for doing complete figures, getting the proportions correct, working on placement of arms and legs for movement, and working on wrinkles. All three of those things are difficult and take practice. What better practice than a few hobos. 
     Anyway, I hope you like these guys.

Busy summer

Man, have I been busy since summer started. I finally finished the flooring, spackle and painting of my shop. The floor looks great (for used laminate) and makes the shop so much lighter than OSB flooring.

 So, now I can continue to focus on getting ready for the Nampa Arts and Crafts Festival in August. I have more than 80 carvings for sale, not including the Christmas ornaments. I have about 35 of those and need to do some more. I am doing a flying angel as well as a puppy in a stocking, plus the ones I have left over from previous years. I should have between 25 and 50 of each for the year.

So I have been doing the things that I think would sell. I purchased the Harley Refsal video "Figure Carving the Scandinavian Style with Harley Refsal", which is a very good instructional video on the flat-plane carving style. So I did a couple of those types of figures to practice. I like the style as it is very clean and has large flat planes rather than many thousands of facets.

I have been doing some dogs as they seem to sell well, and it gives me more practice for my beginner carving class on July 25. This one is patterned after one of Tom Wolfe's dogs in his book, although I added a few of my own touches.

 Then I finished another of my hobo carvings, another hobo chopping wood for a free lunch. This one came out better than the last one, I think.

So, back to carving for the show in August, plus the one in November, the Meridian Middle School Craft Fair. Hope to see you there!

Etsy store

I finally created an Etsy store (Eric Owens Art) to list some of my art. I will be selling some of my carvings, some paintings and some photography. I may even list some of my wife's carvings and knitted things (but only if she bribes me with my favorite, chocolate cream pie!)

Anyway, check it out on Etsy to see some of my art. If you see something you like, I have a few bills that need to be paid off. So buy something already! If you don't see anything you like, drop me a line and tell me what you want. I do commissions and would love for you to own a special work of art to proudly display in your place.

Thanks!

Tri-Cities Rendezvous

We just returned from the annual Tri-Cities Woodcarving Club Rendezvous, held the 2nd weekend of June in Kennewick, Washington. We had a great time taking 4 classes of 3 hours each (I taught two classes), seeing old friends again, and meeting new ones. What a great opportunity to take some no-pressure classes (all for free, except class wood supplies, which are minimal) and to learn a new technique, find a neat project or just to see what else is available. Many of the instructors come up with their own projects, which can be completed by most carvers within the allotted time. The club provides lunch both days, a snack table, and dinner both days, as well. All in all, other than the cost of a motel and gas, it is a pretty inexpensive weekend. Many thanks go out to Bob Gough, Jerry and Judith Dilley, Lanny, Leo Forsha, and all the members of the Tri-Cities Woodcarving Club for their hospitality and friendship and for their efforts in putting on their Rendezvous. Below are some examples of classes offered there this weekend.

These pictures are offered by Dave Disselbrett from Oregon (Silverton/Mt. Angel area) (www.carvingsbydave.blogspot.com) and are simple folk art projects.

The Tri-Cities Woodcarving Club has a website (www.tri-citieswoodcarvingclub.blogspot.com) and you can find them on Facebook as well. What a nice group of folks to work with.

I have a picture of the bark carving that I entered in their competition at the Rendezvous. It was my first bark carving. It won first place. This is the 2nd year I won first place in this competition. What do you think?

I have been working on putting more movement into my carvings, so I started working on a hobo character, from Harold Enlow's book "How to Carve Hobos", which has some great patterns. The first one I did was a hobo chopping wood for his lunch. All in all I think it turned out pretty well. I am working on another one with more detail. We'll see how that one goes. I hope you like this guy.

Gone to the dogs

     I have been busy the past few months. I am going to teach 2 classes at the Tri-Cities (Pasco-Richland-Kennewick, Washington) Woodcarving Club's annual Rendezvous this coming weekend (June 6-9). The 2 classes are miniature figures (under 2 inches) and friendship cane face segments. 
     I will also be teaching a class at Woodcraft in July (25th). That class will be dogs. I have been doing a few dogs to get ready. So the first 3 are ones the attendees will be able to do in class. The last one (the lying dog) is one I did from an old pattern. I really like him, but will change some details on my next one. They are really fun to carve.

And I completed another one of those hobo heads I really enjoy doing. They just show so much expression. I hope you like them too. Comments are appreciated.