still more changes

Time to Ramp up the Work

  

     Yesterday I managed to get the carving up off the ground and on to more logs at different angles to allow me to carve all sides of the carving. The eagle’s nose is a good leverage point to turn the log. Tense moments occurred as I used the tractor to move the carving and logs around as I placed a large pine on the logs to carve the wings out of. Need to have the log up off the ground to slab the log. To slab I will be cutting the length of the uncut log with my largest chainsaw giving me a semicircular slab based on where I make the cut. The pine log I selected has the same color of wood and of course never free of knots. This is a long tedious cut I rarely look forward to.

    So it is a matter of convenience for me to also make sure my chainsaw doesn’t come in contact with the ground.  It is easier to roll logs around when supported on other logs. The time spent rearranging will pay in convenience and ease the carving. In the process I also managed to roll the carving end over end several times down the hill, after dropping it off the tractor forks, I think I even heard babe my dog swearing when she saw it, causing grass marks and some damage to the carving itself. I won’t say where, instead will have you guessing until after the potlatch party then will post on here. This was the tense part and reminded me always that I need to secure the carving. Will take more precaution from here on out.

     Having access to the bottom of log I was able to access the carving so far, checking depths of cuts and how it affects the overall shape of the carving. Well I am impressed but curse myself for not making changes to allow me to have full access to the log before. I have a few cuts in the wrong places but have made modifications to the totem from my original vision to make it work. A lot of times that is all we do as artists. It is a process of removing material and assessing your overall form to see where it is that you must work next. We make it work.  Many times while I am carving I look for the next area I need to cut while singing along to a tune I recognize in my noise reducing headphones, hooked up to my mp3 player on my telephone. I can barely hear the chainsaw and my mind is concentrating on what I am doing.

santa who needs repair 

      All the time I must remember I have a chainsaw capable of cutting a jugular vein, or possibly make stumpy my final nickname, and hurriedly end my career as a chainsaw artist. I like to think I am a professional and understand how to avoid those circumstances where accidents happen. Could you imagine how lame our news reports would be if we didn’t get the occasional pileup on I-77. Accidents always happen and to think it won’t happen to me sometime would be crazy, so I need to get a grip on the chainsaw, and hang on while my mind takes me on a ride. Hard to describe the feeling but I must say it works well,as in the end I have a carving of which I did my best, at that time. You learn always from past carvings and eventually your ability to create becomes more intense as well your desire. As one person explained to me to, ‘be in the moment ‘and I think that is where my mind is at busy creating and blocking out all else.

crack damage. Santa is going bi polar on me. 

       When carving in public I am oblivious to the public unless they enter a zone around me. This area is usually way beyond the safety netting. I have had people stick their fingers through the netting as if to tempt me to trim their nails. How tempting it would be to send them a message about chainsaws. But I didn’t. I tend to focus on them while carving in a safe place, watching carefully to assure no harm will come to them from flying chips or kickbacks.

      Still people do stupid things and it is always nice to have a friend who can go with you when in public to keep people from coming in to your cutting zone. In some ways a minimum of ten feet would be considered a safe distance away from the carver. I haven’t done it but should offer hearing protectors in the form of the safety hearing protection aid, to prevent or dampen hearing loss due to the loud noises. Short intervals would be OK but extended viewing could cause hearing problems.  These can be as simple as foam plugs designed for that purpose.

     Carvers should always wear hearing protection, or anyone as far as that goes that uses a chainsaw for any length of time. Also anti vibration gloves help reduce forearm and hand movement fatigue. Some have Kevlar I believe or at least chain mesh to avoid lacerations from moving chain. If I feel unsteady or need to avoid injury I will toss the chainsaw rather than hang on to it, as long as you toss in the direction where no one is. This is only happened one time in my life on a hillside when felling a tree. I was 18 and learning real quick what a chainsaw is about. It has only happened once. With a chainsaw you always have to be careful cutting, whether cutting wood for a fire, trimming limbs, or anytime you fire it up, just always be prepared.  You can always buy another chainsaw but lives can’t be replaced.

      Safety is something we take so casually, and I hope I have sent you a message how important it can be, when working with a chainsaw to always practice safe operating conditions. Otherwise have fun.