GETTING READY FOR ALGONQUIN
This week I am focusing on Algonquin mill
festival and pretty much that is my only priority. I am trying to get a carving
a day and will try to do some smaller stuff as I go along. What I will do is
try and explain my carving procedure and where my mind is at. (Scary proposition),
as I go about carving this week. All of the carvings I will show you daily on
my blog can be bought , but may not be picked up till after or during the
festival. I just have a limited supply of carvings and would like to have some
to show at festival. All prices will be negotiable, and arrangements to pay or
to have shipped may be made in addition to the cost of the carving itself.
Every year I do a carving event where I showcase
what talent I have in the form of general carving exhibition. I try to limit
the extent of how much carving I do. It’s a pain in the butt to say the least
to pack up all my equipment and prepare for all contingencies of what all I might
need while participating in a carving exhibition. Safety is important, as well
as a chainsaw that starts and runs. These are two of my main priorities as well
as wood of the right type and of course an idea of what I want to carve,
besides another damn bear. Like my bears but still I long to do other projects
as I hate to repeat myself to much. But in reality all bears are different and
are a money maker. To me it is more than the money.
Several
times in my life I put my talent of art in all different forms on a back burner,
delving into and out of at my whim. Most of the time when I am in absentia from
the subject of art I am still taking in information as to how make my art always
better. At times training myself to see things in a different light so to speak,
as these periods when I am absent or have different priorities that pull me
away from my obsession with art, it is always good for my soul as I come back
and usually have a fresh eye for something different that may have stuck in my
mind or a variation on something I once saw. As an artist, if I may call myself
that and I feel I deserve the title, you are constantly evolving, and your work
should always be better. At least I feel I have yet to do the best I can ever
do. I have done some great pieces but still long to do more.
I get an immense amount of satisfaction in
most of the work I do and as I say a little piece of me goes into every one I carve.
The ones I feel didn’t come up to par with my expectations can still be found
in my wood piles. I can see a gradual increase in my ability and technique and
now focus on what is important when doing a carving. Simpler is better. And trying to do most of the
carving with my carving saw is mainly what I do . I like to see 95 to 98
percent of the actual carving done by my chainsaw.
At first it seemed as if I couldn’t carve
with anything but a carving bar, but lately my technique has changed, and if I avoid
lopping off huge hunks of mistakes, I can usually do with a regular chainsaw
most of what I can do with my carving bar. On larger pieces I can even do
detail one would hardly believe is possible with a regular chainsaw.
Today
will be an introduction into what I will have available at the Algonquin mill
festival. You can reserve any and all carvings uncompleted for 50 percent down
prior to the show. At the show they are all made available for sale unless a
reserve is paid for. I am not taking any orders and can only produce a limited
amount of carvings. All carvings on reserve must be paid for when show is
completed and the carving is delivered to your mailing address. If local I will
deliver for free. Shipping extra for long distance orders and I will also include
a general care and maintenance sheet you will need for maintenance of carving.
Daily I will post any carving I have for
sale that I carved at the festival along with any that may be for sale on my
blog here until the festival is over . My blog will return to its normal use of
blathering out musings by myself after that time.
First up is a trio of carvings pics of
the eagle, and a wizard like guy I will call Marlin for now, as he is Merlins’
brother caught up in a little bit of the 60’s revival with his laid back style.
He was carved yesterday, along with one
sitting bear, and no I didn’t misspell, who we will name Dumpy for now. The
eagle is something new for me as I tried to make it fit into the chunk of wood I
had that was irregularly shaped.
This wood is ponderosa pine and is one of two
pieces I have left of these logs. I did a deal for the logs and a log cabin by
carving a couple of frogs. Not your usual frogs but big ones. Anyhow this log
came from a line of former trees planted in a line behind an Amish house in Hartville.
A tree was planted when a child was born and when they died a tree was cut. My understanding
for this was it was a silent way to signal to local folk there was a death in
the family. This was the last of the pines to be cut down and one reason for
its demise was that the Amish homestead had been sold and new owners wanted it removed
because it became unsightly due to a lightning strike. Insects had also
penetrated the log and were causing premature death where the lightning had run
down the log. So I call this an Amish tree that had been struck by lightning that
has created a new life by becoming an eagle a, a pair of frogs, 2 bears w/
fishes, a large orangutan and I still
have one piece left. This is all a fitting tribute to a fine piece of wood. Evidence
of the lightning strike was visible when cutting into the log and can be seen
in different parts more clearly as it changed the color of the wood from a
yellow to a red heartwood. They say that wood struck by lightning takes on
stronger qualities than wood normally. This all depends on the severity of the
lightning strike. Some trees I have seen are completely blown apart. This may
all be a myth. But here you can buy a piece of lightning strike wood and place
by your house or in your house and hope that lightning never strikes twice in
the same place. That this piece of wood may save you from the dangers of a
thunderstorm, if it works that way?
If you are interested in any of these
carvings contact me at kdavis3051@yahoo.com , or visit my website
at kevscarvings.com if you want to see examples of my work.
Tomorrow I plan on talking more about how I carve,
as I add more pics of work in progress over the next couple of days. Thank you
for visiting my blog and website and your interest in my work. - kev
Also included is a pic of mom i took yesterday at the park in barberton where they have an annual mum, festival , enjoy , mom did.
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