Upcoming events and shameless plug

While teaching a class 2 weeks ago at the local Woodcraft store, I passed out one of my cards to the members of the class. One of the class members, Dave, came to our carving demo this weekend at the WoodCraft store. The demo was conducted by Doug Rose who was doing some bird carving, Gene Fuller, who was showcasing his caricatures, Kay Viste who was showing her chip carving, and me. 

     Anyway, Dave, who stopped by to visit our demo, said that he looked at my website and was interested in asking about a few of my carvings. I happened to mention that all of the carvings on my website were for sale, and he pointed out that that was not stated anywhere. So to make it clear to all, here is the announcement:  

All carvings on this website (that I still have) are for sale (almost all)!

I hope that is OK. At least, the carvings I still have or don't want to part with, such as class pieces, etc. Just contact me (boiseowens@gmail.com) for prices and information to purchase any carving that you see. If I don't have it anymore, maybe I can find time to make another one.  

     So a few events are coming up soon on the horizon. February 22-23 will be the Idaho Artistry in Wood Show, at the Boise Hotel and Convention Center. Anyone interested in seeing examples of the wood art on display here in the Treasure Valley should plan on being in attendance at this premier event. It is a quality event, and I can say that since I am the president of the Idaho Artistry in Wood Committee. We strive every year to make it more appealing to the attendees, bringing in various famous carvers from around the region. This year, the featured artist will be Doug Rose, a longtime member of the Idaho Woodcarvers Guild. he will displaying some of his fantastic bird carvings. Don't miss this treat to see one of the best carvers in the area.

During Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26, the Idaho Woodcarving Jamboree will take place here in Boise, sponsored by WoodCraft. This event will host several big name carving instructors who will be putting on several classes of instruction for woodcarving. Doug Rose and Larry Crist will be doing a bird carving class, and Dave Stetson will be teaching his excellent brand of caricature carving. Other instructors will be announced at a later date, so stay tuned in and see what is coming on the horizon.

Thanks!

Idaho Artistry in Wood Show entries

I have been a very busy beaver trying to finish some pieces for the 2014 Idaho Artistry in Wood Show, to be held at the Boise Hotel and Convention Center, February 22-23. 
    I have completed over a dozen carvings, and still have a few more to finish. Here are a few I have not posted yet.

 This carving is one I created for the section on relief carving. It is the Chinese symbol for "forever".

 This is another Chinese symbol relief carving of the word for peace.

 This one is a simple woodburning of an eagle head.

 I already posted this one, but I wanted to show the changes I made to it. I felt it needed some more "pop" to make it stand out. So in searching for some small stones I could imbed in the carving, I ran across a thing called "howlite". When I looked it up, I found it is a "boro-silicate mineral that can be colored various different colors. So I picked up the one colored like turquoise and shaped (ground and sanded) it down to the right size. It is easy to work with and shape for various different uses. Awesome!

This is another mechanic carving I did for a client. I actually did two of them. The one below had some structural problems that I had to fix. It is amazing what you come up with when you have to be creative. These are loosely based on Steven Prescott's "Blockheads" book. I drew my own pattern and did my own from that.

 So I will have about 14-15 carvings for our show. I still have to do a few more, but those would be duplicates. To meet our club "5-Section Challenge" we had to do one carving from each section. Done! Now I would just like to do more, to showcase to the public and interested observers what can be done in the world of carving.
I hope you enjoy these pictures. Thanks for listening!