Replies

1. 
   RalphBarker | Apr 30, 2009 10:56pm | #1

   The food carvings are quite creative, and they are well-photographed.

   I've seen similarly creative work from wood carvers, though.

1. 
   9619 | May 01, 2009 02:39am | #2

   Ralph,
   I too have seen creative work from woodcarvers, just not so much from me. Most books on woodcarving are designed to try to get you to copy something very closely. That is a good way to learn technique, but also to drain any possibility of creativity. I continue to learn carving technique after forty years of carving, but I tend to copy. I continue to try to find ways of freeing myself from that. The problem is mine. I am sure no one else experiences it. :-)
   MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot. 

1. 
   RalphBarker | May 01, 2009 03:19am | #3

   I haven't done a lot of carving (it shows), but mine tends to be project driven. For example, I wanted to make an oak towel rack to increase my towel capacity for some guests last summer. To give it a New Mexico feel, I decided on an oval within the top stretcher, and a relief carving of a roadrunner with the Sandia Peaks (as seen from my yard) in the background. I sketched the bird within the oval, and then went at it, listening to what the wood wanted me to do.I think the really creative stuff comes from being able to switch into whimsy mode, often with a bit of twisted humor. Some years ago, the back cover of FWW showed what appeared to be a cutting board with a rolling pin on top. In front of the rolling pin was the front section of a frog, and behind the rolling pin was the flattened rear section of the frog, inlayed into the surface, marquetry-style.

   
1. 
   9619 | May 01, 2009 03:46am | #4

   Ralph,Whimsy, twisted humor.I like the way you think. Very nice carving of the roadrunner.Thank you.
   MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot. 

2. 
   WillGeorge | May 03, 2009 12:54pm | #6

   Loved the roadrunner carving..

   I loved them crazy birds~ Sort of like the folks in here! However, I only saw them in Texas, at Fort Hood when in the Army.. LONG Ago...

1. 
   RalphBarker | May 03, 2009 06:01pm | #7

   Thanks.The roadrunner population is fairly healthy around here. A couple of years ago, I had one walk into the garage and hop up on the table saw. We had a brief chat, and then he went on his way. They will often mimic the calls of other birds, in an attempt to lure a meal within range. I've also seen them store a lizard dinner on the needles of a cactus for later consumption. Apparently, they are not as crazy as they look. ;-)

2. 
   WillGeorge | May 03, 2009 12:16am | #5

   Mel I agree..

   Wonderful work and then some. Sure wish I could do that! Life would be so relaxed....

   And I just love stuff like the folks that carve and do stop motion  'carvings' in clay and whatever they use.

   I for one am a BIG fan of Shaun the Sheep.. OK, they are funny to me and I think of all the work needed to make all the characters. I would think that is a joy at work thing. Maybe like working at NASA?

   I just love this one.. Just like a little child.... They have their ways! God bless them all!

   http://videopundits.wordpress.com/2007/09/19/shaun-the-sheep-timmy-in-a-tizzy-2/

   EDIT:

   I was looking back and saw the Orange skin carving and the words on the can..

   Cellulite.. It cracked me up! My wife had a little and she was so upset about it.. I would tell her after four children be glad you are still sane! She would give me that 'woman look' and walk away?

   And that FAT CAT on the window sill... I had a fat cat like that!

   And for anybody that loves 'football'

   http://www.metacafe.com/watch/691228/shaun_the_sheep/

   And my old cat...

   http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-L6q4xR59gNs/cinderella_part_2/

   I enjoy life in a different world!

    

   i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
   The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,
   it dseno�t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are,
   the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghi t pclae.
   The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm.
   Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
   Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

    

   I had a bit of a problem with redig .. taotl    Am I a substandard human?

   ---

   Edited 5/3/2009 4:43 am by WillGeorge

   
   

   ---

   Edited 5/3/2009 5:59 am by WillGeorge

1. 
   9619 | May 03, 2009 06:03pm | #8

   WG,
   glad you liked the food carvings. I think they are fabulous.
   MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot. 

2. 
   Eef | May 05, 2009 09:38pm | #9

   will,

   as i was "reading" that, i could see my mind re-arrange the letters so that my eyes "saw" the words arranged in correctly spelled order.  very cool.

   eef

1. 
   saschafer | May 05, 2009 10:17pm | #10

   This is actually a well-known hoax. It has been shown that the middle letters in the words in the passage are not randomly ordered, but rather ordered in such a way that the word remains fairly easy to recognize. Shorter words are easy to figure out, but longer words are much more difficult. See http://www.balancedreading.com/cambridge.html.

   Here's the previous paragraph, with truly random rearrangements:

   Tihs is aaclutly a wlel-kwonn hoax. It has been sohwn that the mlddie leettrs in the words in the passage are not rndlomay oredred, but retahr orrdeed in such a way that the word rmaines fliary esay to rigeznoce. Seorthr wodrs are esay to fgurie out, but leongr wrods are mcuh more ducilffit.

   You find yourself stumbling on "rndlomay" and "fliary"; some words, like "rigeznoce," give almost no clue as to what the real word is.

   -Steve

    

3. 
   Samson | May 06, 2009 12:00am | #11

   Love those, Mel.  I haven't done as much creative carving as I'd like, but here's one:

     View Image

   I might have shown you that one before.  Sorry if I'm repeating myself.

   And another effort I need to get back to and finish:

   View Image

   Cheers!

    

1. 
   9619 | May 06, 2009 12:41am | #12

   Sean,
   The elephant and the bison are really nice. Congratulations. Very creative. I had planned to be carving a gargoyle now, but as always, my priority list got changed. I am making a little glider (rocking chair) for my grandson. The gargoyle is still on the list. The rocking chair reminds me of something that I heard a long time ago -- all woodwork is carving, but some of it is mostly straight and perpendicular lines. For my rocking chair, I am making a curved back. I glued up five pieces of red oak into a block of wood that was 4" by 5" by 15", and made a simple circle jig with a 15" diameter. THen I took two 7/8" slices out of the big chunk using the circle cutter on the band saw. Those made the upper and lower "rails" of the back of the chair. The two stiles have the same radius but they are only about 4" wide. Then I doweled the four pieces together, and then used some 80 grit sandpaper and lots of elbow grease to final 'shape' the piece. Later made the seat and am now working on the arms (arm chair). Looking at lots of chairs (Chippendale, Frank Lloyd Wright, etc), I think that chairs are an area in which "real" woodworking and sculpture can come very close.Of course, all of these words are only words. I enjoy the actual "doing". So its back to the workshop. Great to hear from you. We haven't conversed in a while. Enjoy,
   MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot. 

2. 
   WillGeorge | May 06, 2009 01:56am | #13

   Samson.. Really nice work.

   Do you mind if I rip-off your photo of the elephant?

   My middle daughter collects elephant things. I may try to carve one like that. (We'll see if I can?)

   Edited 5/5/2009 6:56 pm by WillGeorge

1. 
   Samson | May 06, 2009 02:24am | #14

   I'm not sure if it will be of much help, but you are certainly welcome to it.  I did a Google image search and collected photos of several asian elephants from several angles to inform my carving.  I recommend that approach.  

2. 
   saschafer | May 06, 2009 03:55am | #15

   WG,

   Here are some elephants for you (from our recent trip to South Africa):

   View Image

   View Image

   View Image

   View Image

   -Steve

    

   
1. 
   Samson | May 06, 2009 03:58am | #16

   Your pictures are great, Steve. 

   Will, I made mine a female asian elepahnt as I wanted smaller ears and no tusks.  I made mine for my young daughter, and didn't want tusks as they seemed sharp and potentially delicate as well.  - just to explain my choice.

1. 
   saschafer | May 06, 2009 04:31am | #17

   Sean,

   Thanks. The elephants are good, but my favorite photo of the entire trip (out of a total of nearly 3000 taken by my wife and me) is this one:

   View Image

   -Steve

    

   
2. 
   Samson | May 06, 2009 04:45am | #18

   Whoa yeah!  Beautiful.  Hope you had a long zoom!  At least 400mm.

3. 
   saschafer | May 06, 2009 04:53pm | #19

   It was a 300mm telephoto + 1.4X converter, so equivalent to 420mm. Even so, we were less than 100 feet away (in a car).

   -Steve