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.

My latest Viking carving

This rough looking guy is my latest creation. My friend, Linda Long, wanted a viking carving to celebrate and honor her viking heritage. It took me a while to get started on it and finish it, what with teaching at Woodcraft and getting ready for summer and the end of the school year, but finally he is off the paint table and onto the shelf, waiting for his new owner to pick him up. I hope you enjoy him as much as I do.

Clowns and faces

There's just something about clowns that I enjoy watching and being part of. Not that I want to be a clown. I am enough of a clown and klutz on my own without all the big shoes, funny clothes and face paint. I just enjoy a good clown. They make me laugh. I finished carving a couple of clowns lately. One is a hobo clown and the other is a goofy sort of circus clown. I also finished a couple of clown heads, but I have not finished the bodies for them. I will post the pictures later when I am finished with them.

Anyway, here are the clown busts I finished.

 This fella is my hobo clown, based loosely on a Pete LeClair hobo clown bust . I like him.

 This is my traditional painted clown face. I think he turned out well.

 Here is a friendship cane face segment. This was in a class taught by CCA and IWG member, Gene Fuller. The separate faces were different expressions. I am trying tom get better at defining different facial expressions. Quite the challenge to get some correct. I will be teaching a similar class at the Rendezvous in the Tri-Cities at Kennewick, Washington, in June of this year.

 Happy, smiling.

 Apprehensive, expectant?

 Quizzical, not sure.

Totally not sure what I was going for here. Any ideas? Drunken look?

I hope you enjoy the pictures. Any feedback is welcome.

Unfinished business

It has been a few weeks since my last post, so I thought I would show what I have been up to. I have been busy making blanks for a project I am doing with a couple of friends of mine in our carving class. Monte Dick and David Calloway carve with me on Tuesdays, and we did a head together. When we finished that, we moved on to a small bust, based on a Pete Leclair design of a hobo clown. I carved one as a go-by and am carving another one with Monte.

 

This is the go-by, the example for teaching Monte and David how to do these heads.

      

And this is the one I finished. A little different with the curly hair.

 

I have also finished a giraffe (below) and a cowgirl. The cowgirl will have a companion cowboy to go with her, sort of a young couple in love.

I have a plethora of heads sitting on the paint table, just waiting for a body to put them on. Once I carve the bodies, I will paint the head and body together. Until then, you have to see them "naked", without color.

I am looking forward top getting them finished, but until then they will have to wait. I have three commissions waiting to be started, a viking, a nativity scene and a camel. Better get busy. Talk to you later!

OSU Fan Bear

My cousin, Beverly, wanted a fan bear for her collection. So I finished this guy this past weekend, and will ship him off soon. She is a huge Ohio State University fan, so he is decked out in OSU gear. 

This is a front view of the bear, with his foam finger.

 

Here's his backside.

Gene Fuller Friendship Face Carving Class

This past Saturday, March 2, Gene Fuller, one of our club members who is one of the 25 members of the Caricature Carvers of America, taught our club a class on carving friendship cane segments. These segments were meant to originally be placed on a friendship cane to demonstrate the skill levels of carious carvers, to create a work of art and to possibly be a trading piece between other carvers.

Gene took 10 of us through the paces of how he sets up a face (minus the ears and hair) and then turned us loose to create faces on the corners of our carving piece. It was a lot of fun and very educational. 

Gene really gets into his carving. He is a great and patient teacher who tells it like it is, but makes it very interesting and informative. 

 My friend Dale Parsons and I are doing a bang-up job on creating faces on a corner of our piece.

(L-R) Monte Dick, Eric Owens, Dale Parsons, and Jane Eubanks in Gene Fuller's class.

Gene Fuller getting the details just right. When you take a class from Gene, you get a great education on carving, but also lessons on anatomy, entymology, history, and life lessons as well. What did you expect from a retired BSU biology professor? All in all, it was a GREAT way to spend a Saturday carving with great friends from a great instructor. The rest of the carving class consisted of my friends Ken Peterson, John Brubaker, Lou Olaso, John and Carolyn Greener, and Doug Rose. Our thanks go out to Monte Eldfrick of the Boise, Idaho WoodCraft store for giving us space for our Idaho Woodcarvers Guild club meeting, and for allowing us to hold this class for our club members. He is a great friend to the woodcarvign clubs in the Treasure Valley, and deserves our hearty THANKS! 
Support his ability to help out all the clubs by being a customer of his store at the intersection of Overland Road and Cole Road at I-84.