Fjord Horse

I've been working on a folk art carving of a Fjord horse for a class. It's 3 1/4 inches tall by 3 1/2 inches long. The wood I have is 7/8 inch thick. I like the high mane but with the saddle I had to shorten the mane. I'm lengthening the body a little on my pattern. With my shaky hands I kept a simple pattern and still kept with tradition of this carving. I wood burnt the pattern on one, it is sanded and has a natural finish. The other two I left the carving marks and they are painted with acrylics. I plan to use some other colors as well.     

Snowy Owl

A lady said I could carve this snowy owl and one for her. She was kidding but I carved her one too. It's a simple carving that can be used as an ornament or set on a shelf. In the summer the snowy owls are brownish with dark spots and strips. In the winter they are almost completely white. The older males may be all white. Their eyes are yellow. Their height is up to 27 inches and their wingspan between 45 to 60 inches. They prefer the arctic tundra. When food is scarce they may migrate south. Their preferred  meal is lemmings.They supplement their diet with rabbits, rodents, birds, and fish. They hunt both during the day and night.

Library Display

For the month of March I'm displaying some of my carvings at a library in the town of Plummer. I wrote a few stories to go with some of the carvings. The two most asked questions are how long it takes to carve something and what type of wood I carve. I displayed basswood, butternut, and cottonwood bark and wrote a story on each. It is fun to do a little research on a subject and I find a lot of people find it interesting. Cartoon figures are always a hit with the kids. I found a couple of cookie pans for the refrigerator magnets and used Command; a velcro type wall hanger to mount the carvings on the wood panel. Most of the carvings are on my blog somewhere.

LITTLE GUYS

When I saw Don Mertz post on woodbeecarvers.com, I had to try carving these delightful caricatures. They are out of a one inch square by one and a half inch tall. It's a good way to use scraps and practice faces. For the eyes I carved a small half circle at the brim of the hat and burned it for color. The guys have a linseed oil natural finish. I will be trying more of these with different faces. This is a way to carve a quick carving when involved  in a large project and keep up your interest in carving.

Dala Horse

The Dala horse from Sweden has a great story and tradition. In the winter of 1716, while King Charles XII of Sweden waged war throughout most of Europe, many soldiers were quartered in private homes in the Mora area of Sweden. Because of the severe winter and the war, all suffered from the lack of food and warmth. Tradition has it that one soldier, in his spare time, carved a Dala horse from some scrap wood in the home he was staying. Before presenting it to the child of the home for a gift, he painted it bright red. This was the available color in this area, being a bi product of a copper mine. He decorated the horse with a kurbit painting for the harness and saddle. The use of kurbits as a decorative motifs on the horse came from the soldier's deep religious background. Today they are manufactured in Sweden in different colors and the saddles are painted by double loading the brush for the saddle. I carved two different sizes. The one 3 inches tall and 1 inch thick looked better to me. The other one was 4 inches tall and 1 1/2 inch thick. I wanted them to look more like the older Dala horses so they are not sanded and the paint job is simpler.

Hearts for Valentines Day

I have three different hearts for this Valentines Day. The first one is a simple heart carved and painted with bright colors. The second picture is two hearts carved out of a lilac branch. It is cut at an angle to show the growth rings. It is also a hardwood. The last picture is two hearts that are linked, carved from one piece of basswood.

WISHHAM YOUNG WOMAN

This carving is from a Edward Curtis portrait of a young indian woman in 1910. She is a Chinookan from Washington state. The tribes were along the Colombia River and along the coast. She is from the Wishham tribe. The choker around her neck is shell disks and earrings are abalone. These were used as barter and they were good at trade. It takes me some time to carve portraits as I don't measure the different layers. I go by if it looks right to me, so I carve it a little at a time. The dark brown area is a pitch mark that goes all the way through the wood.