been a busy little beaver, just chipping away

My latest carving

       A friend  of mine I had not scene for years accidentally came in touch with me after his wife noticed another carving i did on 12 th and Perry in Canton Ohio. She contacted me and I came to their house to view the tree. I was surprised when  he answered the door. We used to work construction together and he was my supervisor. For some reason his name never registered till he opened the door. It was nice getting reacquainted and showing him another facet to my life he was unaware of, as it had been quite awhile since he saw me and I had taken to chainsaw carving at the time.

 

     So I had this wild cherry log, my friend took down five years ago and was standing in the middle of his yard , I guess just waiting for me. the outside was kind of punky but a couple of quick cuts revealed a good heartwood of traditional red color . it was not long before I was into carving. Most of the pics are taken between tanks of gas or breaks. It was hot and muggy so breaks came often.

   Typically I work from the top of the head down . This determines the proportions of the lower part of the head . These large heads I have done are traditionally out of proportion on purpose as I elongate the face to make it different for aesthetic purposes. It is intentional and not because I don't know any different what true proportion is.
   As I continue down the head carving out features, I have a tendency to set the mood for the carving. This is the third large head I have done in the canton area and all come out different .  So far each customer are excited to have the carvings I produce. I will include a couple of pics of these other carvings so you can see , although I have published pics of them before .

 The first was above and it is off Columbus rd. off u.s 62 east of canton on Bentler ave., the other is just above 12 th and Perry on the first rd. on the left just beyond the intersection and ca be seen from Perry Rd.. I try to make each different and after viewing them together realize they are and they are not.

    So the second day it is basically defining the statue and making it it's own as I grind away and finish all those details. This is the largest I have done so far and these carvings are a favorite of mine. While doing a smaller carving similar to these a friend suggested the theme of these to be his answer when asked how he was doing. His answer was always , I have my head above ground. must be a good day.
     I never work on live trees and have turned down jobs where people offered to cut down trees to just let me carve. My carvings are not nearly as important as the trees life's respectively. Although the first two trees did succumb to Asplundh disease courtesy of AEP.