Balanced Santa Staff

 I had a request to create a staff but it needed to be 60" tall and they wanted a Santa and two elves on it. So I thought about it for a while and came up with this design. I wanted something that looked like a scene instead of a bunch of items just kinda mashed together. The idea of Santa being balanced on a stack of presents kinda led to the whole theme. I decided to use stacked elements with a metal rod epoxied down the middle to allow me to get the positioning and look exactly like I wanted it. The Santa is 6" tall and the entire carved section is about 22" long. The Santa and elves are out of basswood and the rest of the carvings and staff are poplar. I used acrylics and metallic paints on the carved portion. The staff was first stained with Rit clothing dye. After sealing it with laquer I applied red oil paint as a highlighting stain to give it more depth. Comments and advice are always welcomed! Thanks for looking!

 

 

Twisted Crosses

 I've been pretty busy with carving and work since my last post. I modified my carving vise and mounted it on a post attached to an old cast iron base that went to a retired patio umbrella, so that I can do more in-the-round carving standing up. It makes it easier to move around the piece and I can use all my weight as leverage.
   I've been working on another doll and a big commissioned Santa staff that I will post pictures of soon. In between I have been making a bunch of little crosses for gifts.
   I have made crosses before of different sizes and I enjoy making them and thinking about how they might be used. It is important that they feel right when held. This is one of my latest design attempts using a spiraled, twisted pattern that looks pretty good on these crosses. They are about 2" tall x 1 1/2" wide. I cut them out on a bandsaw and then shape the twists with a carbide bit in a rotary shaft tool. I used a variety of different woods: lacewood, paduak, holly, ash, zebrawood, cocobolo, bocote, purpleheart, and walnut from my scrap box. Some of the wood was found in my neighborhood and others were gifts to me. Some from other places and other countries, and some from down the street. All different, but all the same. I thought the grouping made a neat picture.

Barefoot Hitty Doll

Here is a doll I started as my second project at War Eagle. Adina is known for her dolls and it was a chance for me to practice an additional female face. I had a lot of fun carving her, but she looks too real...it is strange takeing photos, so I had to buy her a dress! Thanks for looking!

http://picasaweb.google.com/mpounders1/Hitty#

"Girl from the North Country"

I just completed a week of "carving camp" and had a wonderful time! This was the project that I started and mostly finished in Adina Huckins' class at War Eagle. I have struggled like most with female faces and I jumped at the opportunity to learn from such an accomplished artist (http://www.adinahuckins.com/index.html ). I could not be more pleased with the results! I still need to a little more work before mounting to a base and applying a finish, but finished the hair and eyes last night and couldn't wait any longer. Adina is a wonderful teacher and I could not recommend her classes more strongly!




This about 10" tall from basswood and the title is from an old Bob Dylan song. My carving is based on a carving that Adina is doing of her neice. The title seemed appropriate for a young lady from Northwest Arkansas. Thanks for looking and comments and advice are always welcomed.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mpounders1/GirlFromTheNorthCountry#

Cheap Carving Knives.....make your own

One of the first things I learned about carving was that you have to have sharp tools. (this was closely followed by learning that you need a carving glove and a supply of bandaids). Many carvers struggle with sharpening their tools, so it is somewhat easier to start with a blade that is already sharp and then just stropping and honing it to keep it sharp. The Stanley utility knife might seem too ungainly for carving, but it is really a great knife. The blades are sharp and can be made sharper by stropping and they are cheap to replace if you nick the edge. The thin blade also slides through wood very easily. Although I use the Stanley extensively, the blade is too big or too wide or the wrong shape to do certain things or fit in certain places on a carving. So I made my own knives for about a $1 a piece. I purchased Excel blades (http://www.excelhobbyblades.com/index.php?cPath=46_82 ) at Hobby Lobby. They were already sharp, but I tired quickly of changing blades in their handles, so I made my own handles in various styles and shapes. Making your own handles allows you to experiment with shapes and sizes to find what you like. I am currently fond of the Mike Shipley style handles that are long and straight (they are surprisingly comfortable). Simple get a small square of wood and drill a 3/8" hole in the end about 1 1/2" deep. Cut a slot in the end of a 3/8" dowel and cut it off so that it fits in the hole. The tang of the blade fits perfectly in this size dowel! I use belt and drum sanders to shape the handle and then use epoxy to glue the dowel and blade into the hole. Very simple to make and the blades are already sharp and easy to keep sharp. The blades are about $1 each in a package of three, so if you don't like the handle or you want to reshape the blades, you are not out a lot of money. I have used the knives quite a bit over several years and they have held up well