Olde World Santa

I carved this Santa in Cottonwood bark. It is 10 inches tall and 3 inches wide. This is the first time I tried painting something in bark. I like to carve something in the back
of the piece.

Bird House Ornament

This is an idea from a Montana friend. The house is carved from cottonwood bark and the bird is from basswood. It is 2 1/4 inch square and 3/4 inch thick at the widest point. I was going to carve in the features of the house but I liked the look of the bark so I burned in boards. I like the contrast of the Goldfinch against the bark. It's a fun one to carve with some of those scrapes of wood lying around.

   

Rendezvous

I attended a Rendezvous in Kennewick,WA. It was a great time visiting with the people and carving. I always like carving characters so I had to try the small guy. He is a three inch tall cut out.  I carved the bird on both sides of the pine cone. She had a simple way of laying out the lines.  The flute was a kit where we had to round the flute and carve the block, which my choice was a fish. My wife made a bag to protect the flute. I am having fun learning to play music on it.

Mushroom

This was in a class where the bottom was turned on a lathe and the top was cut on a band saw. It is a 2 inch block, three inches tall. The bottom is slanted up and carved with a v gouge. The face is cut at a corner so it can have a large nose it you want. I added a tie just to put some color in it.  

Jim

 I had fun at the Spokane Rendezvous this year, and gave a class and participated in two others. John took some pictures of a friend at a Christmas party last year. Jim was surprised to see we were to carve him as a caricature. The talk was back and forth with good fun all day, The carving is white pine and 10 inches tall including the base.

Icicle

I was away from home for a couple weeks and I took a few knives and some small pieces of wood in a small container. These icicles are 5/8 inch square by 4 inches long. I tried a staining technique I saw used on small guys. I first applied a paste wax with a bristle brush. Then used a hair dryer to melt the wax into the wood. Then I dipped the icicles into the stain and wiped them down. Although it was a lot of work it gave an interesting effect. 

Simple Sculpture

This is from a pattern in the Carving magazine. It is carved from a piece of butternut. The base is separate. It is 1 inch thick, 7 inches tall and 5 inches wide.The finish is Tru oil which is a gun stock oil. I used a pre-stain first before using the Tru oil in spray form. Using the pre-stain the oil finish comes out quicker.