Capital City Carvers

January 2007

Page 2

Report on Club Activities

2006 Show & Tell Drawing. The club holds a show & tell at the conclusion of the business meeting each month. Members can display a finished carving that has been completed in the last two years and has never been displayed before. Each member with a carving on display gets an entry into the prize drawing in December. The more months you display, the better your chances to win one of the monetary prizes. The prize winners for 2006 were: Lee Roberts - $10; Lance Peterson - $25; and Barbara Mann - $50. Pictures of all carvings in show & tell are available on the club website: www.carvers.mytalweb.com
Word Search Puzzle. Craig created a carving word search puzzle to delight and aggravate us! There were 33 carving-connected words or phrases in the puzzle, one of which was a special bonus word. The words were: acrylic, band aid, basswood, butternut, caricature, cedar, cherry, chips, chisel, cypress knee, glove, glue, gouge, grain, habitat, hone, knife, oilstone, pattern, pyrography, realistic, relief, roughout, sandpaper, skew, strop, thumb guard, veiner, V-tool, wire edge, woodcarving, and wood spirit. The bonus word was tilia americana, the botanical name for basswood. Lance Peterson found the bonus word. Barbara Mann found 32 words and Smokey Holcomb found 25 words (in his first week in the club!).
Club Banner. The club voted to have a banner made that can be displayed whenever we do exhibits, demonstrations, etc. The 30" by 30" banner features our logo in color and our website URL. The banner will be on display again at the January 8th meeting. Thanks to MJ for preliminary work on sign makers, and to Craig for the design, computer work, and leg work to have it made.
North Florida Fair. Three members entered carvings in the North Florida Fair competition and came home with ribbons and cash awards. Robert Christian won a second place in the professional category with his football player caricature. Tana Grattet won second place in the amateur category with her Easter Bunny. Barbara Mann won best of show in the professional category with her Indian woman. Pictures of the winning carvings with their ribbons are on the club website.
Art in Gadsden. Three club members, who are also woodturners, had juried pieces in the Art in Gadsden show in Quincy: Elvin Kever, Robert Hatch, and Bob Whitworth. The show was November 10 to December 31.
Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science. Many thanks to the members who demonstrated woodcarving and entertained the children for Farm Days on November 16 & 17. The Museum invited us to demonstrate carving a mockingbird as a part of their Mockingbird, Mockingbird Images art exhibit running November 26 to January 31. On January 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lance Peterson, Lee Roberts, Craig Kittendorf and Smokey Holcomb will be demonstrating and showing their finished carvings. There's room for more of you!

Tips and Techniques

by Barbara Mann

Over the years I have repeatedly bombarded you with hints to improve your carvings or to make carving an easier process. Adelle referred me to the website of Chris Pye, a famous British woodcarver. He has a document on the website called Master Woodcarving Secrets or 101 Most Common Pieces of Advice I've Given to Woodcarving Students Over the Years. There is a common body of knowledge for woodcarvers. I'm not making this stuff up! Here are a few of Chris Pye's pieces of advice.
"Sharpening tools has the same relevance to carving as tuning has to playing a guitar well."
"As you carve, pay more attention to what you leave on than what you take off."
"The slicing cut is the cut par excellence--I use the slicing cut 95% of the time."
"Always cut, never tear or pull shavings or chips away."
"If the grain tears, don't persist. Stop! Reverse the direction of carving."
"Most nicks and similar injuries will happen when you are taking out and putting away your carving tools."
"To create the 3D effect, a painter must play with colour, a 'drawer' with shading. Carvers play with depth. Removing wood is playing with depth. Make full use of what you have; of hard and soft edges, of undercutting, of planes."
"If it doesn't look right, it probably isn't. The carving has to 'read' right, i.e., the viewer mustn't be confused. If you can't get the right 'read,’ change the lighting; use a mirror; go away and come back afresh. Sometimes you have to creep up on what's 'right'...softly, softly."
OK! Chris Pye is a whole lot more eloquent than I am! Watch for more of his hints in future newsletters.

Display at Senior Center

We've been asked to put carvings in the display cases. Bring your carvings to the January 22 meeting. People repeatedly ask to buy the carvings, so we are being strongly encouraged to display some carvings we are willing to sell. We need to know the selling price when you bring the carving, as well as the name of the carving and type of wood. The Senior Center only takes cash for the carvings and it will be given directly to you. Please bring carvings for the display even if they are not for sale. People just like looking at our work. If you need to take a carving to the Senior Center after Jan. 22, ask at the desk for staff member Nikki Fregger.

Prev Next Back to Newsletters

Home ShowNTell Schedule Newsletters Officers Links