Christmas sale

Thekla and I did a short, small bazaar at the King of Glory Lutheran Church for the Sons of Norway lodge a few weeks ago. We did OK, but not as good as we had hoped. I will have to promote it a bit more aggressively next year.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from that sale. Thanks for looking.
                                   

New Woodcarving Illustrated article

I will have another Woodcarving Illustrated article coming out sometime next year. I pitched another article on my sports/fan bears, and they accepted. 
Here are the bears I carved for that article.

Thanks for looking.

Finished!

It took me a while but I finally finished the carving article for Woodcarving Illustrated. I am excited to have a 2nd article in WCI. 

I don't know when it will be published, but I suspect it will be next summer or next fall. We shall see.

Now it is on to the sons of Norway show. I will have a booth at that show, and hope to be very successful. A friend of mine challenged me to do some viking carvings, so I will have some at that show, as well as the usual characters posing as Santas, shelf wizards, cowboys, and a few others. Come see us on December 1st at Kings of Glory Lutheran Church from 9-3. You might even catch some lefsa if you get there early enough.

I also want to enter the Caricature Carvers of America competition this year. I have several good ideas I plan on carving. I also hope to line up some teaching dates for some of my designs for next year. 

We shall see!

Thanks for tuning in.

New article

I just received an email from Woodcarving Illustrated on a carving I proposed for an article. They want it and now I have to get moving on getting the article finished.

I proposed my sports bear and they want the article, write-up and pictures by November 15. That's quite a tight time frame, so I better get going. I have already carved a few, and am getting the sequence down correctly. After that I will work on the pictures and captions, as well as the directions, tips, tool list, paint list, etc.

So excited!!! Yay!

Above is an older one I completed and have since sold.

These two I worked on over the weekend.

Thanks for listening and tuning in. Stay tuned. I will let you know which issue it will be featured in.

More vikings

These Vikings are more of the ones I taught in the Salem, Oregon class. I know, Vikings did not put horns on their helmets. But whenever you look at drawings or images of Vikings, they seem to have a lot of horns on their helmets, so I kept the theme going. Besides, they seem to make it more finished with some sort of helmet adornment on them. I plan on doing one with wings on them. 

Interestingly, I read in an armor book that most of their helmets had fur-lined ear flaps that they often would swing up and out of the way when not needed. It was thought that they may have looked like wings,  as Thor is often depicted having on his helmet. That may have given rise to the impression that Vikings put some sort of helmet adornment on their helmets. So anyways, that is why I do it. 

Enjoy the pictures. Thanks!

Great class!

I just returned from teaching a class on my vikings in Salem, Oregon, with the Capitol Woodcarvers club. I met some great folks, had a great time chatting and working with the great members of their carving club. 

These vikings are a good project to work on and fun to customize. The legs can be lengthened, the choice of weapon is up to the carver, and they can decide how to adorn the armor, clothing, as well as changing the style of the beard and hair. All in all it was a great time with some new friends, and I really enjoyed spending time with them and carving a project with them.

Below are some pictures of the project. Enjoy! 

Viking class

I will be teaching a carving class on Vikings for the Capitol Woodcarvers club in Salem, OR in august. I look forward to meeting some new friends nd having a great time carving with them. 

Here are a few Vikings I have carved for the class. They were a lot of fun.

I think this guy is my favorite. I lengthened his legs, added a belt knife and made the head taller.

All of the Vikings together. 

Thanks for looking!

Viking carving pattern

Here is the pattern for my viking character/caricature. I will load more as I create them. Enjoy! Thanks.

Too many projects, so little time

We just returned from the Tri-Cities area of Washington, where I teach classes each year during the Tri-Cities Woodcarving club's annual Rendewzvous. This year I taught my Christmas penguins and my relief hiker that was in the latest issue (Issue 83, Summer 2018) of Woodcarving Illustrated. We had a great tiem as always, although the numbers were down and the venue may change next year. We shall see. It is always a fun time and we meet and enjoy the company of some of the nicest folks around.















































I have done a number of golfers recently, so here are is one.

I have been doing a few carvings for the Sons of Norway bazaar in December. Here are a few of those..

I am planning on teaching a Viking class in Salem in August. It will be a great class and a lot of fun.

YouTube video and Woodcarving Illustrated article patterns

     I have completed a set of YouTube videos focusing on caricature carving and beginner projects. Below is the pattern for my caricature letter opener with a face on the top. Below that is the pattern for my sitting caricature penguin. I hope you have fun carving these interesting projects. I will have more coming soon.

     Below are the images of my pattern article in Woodcarving Illustrated, Issue 83, pages 41-43. It was a fun project to carve, and I am pleased that WCI picked it up as a submission. I hope this is just the first of many. You can find the pattern in the summer 2018 issue of WCI. 

     Below are the patterns (right and left) of my relief hiker. Again, I hope you have fun carving these guys (or gals, if you prefer). I sure did!

Trying to get back in to the groove

     Now that 2018 is in full swing, I have realized how fast time can fly when you are not just plowing forward. This is the 3rd year in a row in which I have had a busy and fretful March. It was only 2 years ago that my sister passed away very quickly. We were able to fly back and visit family, but it was an agonizing trip as my father continued to slip away. Between the Alzheimer's, high blood pressure, several heart attacks, and other health issues, we knew his time was coming to an end. 
     Then last year I had major shoulder surgery after a torn rotator cuff needed repair. It is still not back to 100% and may never be, but I am working on it every day. Some days it feels stronger and other days it seems as if it is just stuck and that is as far as its going to progress. I hope not, as I have plans to enjoy my children and grandchildren (whenever they happen to show up). 
     Then this year, my father finally passed. His death, too, was very quick, even though we knew it was coming and had known that for several years. We received the notification on a Saturday, and he passed that Wednesday. Luckily we had the chance to go back and visit, and be there for my father's funeral. As sad as it was, I had a chance to do several things I love doing: catching up with my older brother, who I greatly love; catch up with some cousins who were able to come and visit and be there for us as we laid my father to rest; visit the carving shop at Smoky Mountain Woodcarvers in Townsend, Tennessee (absolutely love that place, and always purchase more than I should); and visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, specifically Cades Cove. That is one of my all-time favorite places for my wife and I to visit.  
     As soon as we returned, our annual Idaho Artistry in Wood Show started on Friday, with set-up and judging, then the public getting a chance to see the entries and displays for our show.
     All told, it was a very busy couple of weeks, but now that it is spring break from school, maybe I can get some rest, come to grips with the loss of my father (now both of my parents are gone, as well as my sister), and get back on track.
     So, a few pictures of some carvings and some of our show.

One of my creations.

A golfer I liked carving.

Another golfer I carved.

A display of some of my past carvings at the show.

Some of the intarsia entries at the show.

Our display table at the show.

Some random entries at the show.

I loved this carving of this bird and its nest, by Susan Villaneuva.

Two of mine, the Civil War soldiers and a viking.

A bird carving by Larry Crist.

     I will be teaching a wood spirit walking stick class in May. If anyone wants to take it contact the Woodcraft store in Boise. I have a list of commissions (and donations) as well as carving for the Sons of Norway show in December. Gotta love it. I enjoy carving and seeing others enjoy purchasing (or receiving) one of my carvings. Makes me smile!

     Adios! Adieu! Arriva Derci! Dosvidanya! Tchuss! See ya!!!