must be monday.

Today Will Be Simple

ready to go.  

     Just plan on contacting the client who is supposed to receive the totem and go from there. I have been thinking a lot on where I need to go from here in terms of a new project. I already have the project but the idea or theme isn’t cemented in yet. First I need to take care of old business. Took a tractor trip around the farm and took some great pics, including a panorama of the sun going down, also some more Babe pics as she has really taken to the ponds this year. In fact it seems as if every time I go to feed the ducks, Babe has to jump in the water and intimidate the ducks. I still have all my ducks with the Greenie and Mama duck(Whackers) raising all 4 ducks , plus I have the white duck who still gets picked on though twice the size of other ducks and I have one goose, as the one with the bad leg took to flying and flew away from home with other geese who had landed on the pond. Still the count is seven. And it is the first time my duck Whackers has ever had a flock of hers mature from eggs. Greenie although the father is still the smallest duck there and still has his place in the flock as being one who watches over them all.

     

babe taking a swim

sunsets are always pretty no matter where you take them from, but especially so when taken from home. 

panorama view from top of hill

next to last totem blog

Enough of the Totem

     Need to finish the totem and move on as my blog suggests. Life moves on and so does my art work at times.  I am looking forward to starting something new and would like to take you the readers through this one also. I also have plans to start a new novel about a guy who builds a house for free off of craigslist free postings, and how it changes his life and others as well. This I am going to do in a more reader friendly way and will not publish on here until I have wrote the first five chapters, this process could take a week or a month. Will let you know. I also plan on revamping my house with my carvings, in an effort to surround myself with my hard work, and to better appreciate what I have done in an effort to make myself better at what I do. To serve as inspiration to do more also, even if at my own expense I am the only person in this world to appreciate what I have accomplished.

     Sometimes I think the artist’s worse fears are not that he isn’t capable of doing any one thing perfect, but instead for anyone to not see what he sees when he looks at something, to lose sight of the artist’s vision. Myself I have looked at objects supposedly to be true art objects showing a new vision or whatever, as I am not convinced yet that it is anything but trash, and wonder if truly the artist intended the meaning to be so obscure no one even understood the meaning but instead nodded their heads as if to acknowledge this artists inner vision. Picasso was abstract and I can understand the symbolism. A plastic crate for milk bottles in the middle of the floor of a huge city art museum symbolizes what? Sometimes I think it symbolizes an art major with nothing for a final thesis. The air stands for the air in his head, the nothingness, devoid of any thought what so ever to make his parents happy with him finally earning his degree after 7 years of torturous payments. Anyhow I guess it did impress me as I looked at that crate and said to myself I can do better than that and maybe one day I will have my work here, and then I wonder what people will say?

     All I can do is keep trying, and that keeps me going. Now I need to get off here and apply about 3 coats of Helmsman spar varnish to the overall carving and seal it up and finish this phase in my life. It is strange, but when I as the carver started the totem and devised the symbolic nature of the individual items that make up the totem, my thoughts on what they represent are now so much different than then, as personal events have marked the carving in so many ways in the last couple of months. This is usually the way it is when carving as I can look at certain carvings and see my past laid out before me, as if they are mile markers in my memory, some good, some bad, but just as my blog suggests –Life moves on.

     

its a zoo out there

A Little Surprise

  Rolling Ridge Ranch Animal Park|Read Rolling Ridge Ranch's Story-      A little surprise was to be had by both Mom and myself as we were taking a ride to check out a lumber company in the Millersburg area. We had been to this area several times and yet we never saw this sight to behold. There were all kinds of exotic animals from zebra to ostriches to water buffalo alongside the road. I even saw a camel as we ventured along the township road. The easiest way to describe to describe how to get there from Canton, Ohio is take St. Rt. 62 south till you pass through Winesburg and after passing Wendell August Forge begin looking for signs for Heini’s cheese house and Co Rd. 168 on left hand side , turn left on co rd. 168 and farm will be on left side. If you want to view the animals for free then continue on to next township rd. on left and turn down it. Animals can be seen from roadway and is where I took my pictures. I have also included a link to their website as to tour information if you would like to tour on their horse drawn wagons. This is a place I need to revisit in time.

     

its not as black and white as one would assume

And Yet Again I Have Painted Yet Another Day

      Still working at painting the totem, and yesterday I was able to install eyes in all the different figures except the low man on the totem pole. The reason I didn’t do him was that I am still not finished with painting him as I work down on the totem. The reason for this is that if I drip paint as I do then I still have a chance to correct mistakes. My paint after I mix it is more like a wash, and I have to be careful and make repeated efforts to apply several coats to get the color to a stage I like. Doing so offers plenty of opportunity to make mistakes as I do. Splotched paint can usually be blended in or covered over. In some areas it is best to work with the darker colors first and then proceed to the lighter colors. A grinder or even painting an area white helps to eliminate unwanted blotches of paint. All color correction needs to be done prior to sealing the totem

      Once the totem is sealed it is harder to change the colors and generally requires one to grind off the old paint and varnish back to bare wood and then blend it back in and reseal the entire sculpture to assure uniformity of painting procedure. I am thinking of leaving the low man on totem pole’s face alone and just seal him as he is. I have some splotched paint I need to remove but from experience I have noticed that when applying the final seal coat of Helmsman spar varnish it tends to drop the values of the paint accordingly, making the darks darker and the lights a tone darker also. So what you see now will change even more after sealing. The face will appear darker when sealed and should have just the right tone I am looking for. In some ways it does make the carving more visible to the eye but it does change the values of the colors respectively. I only use a satin finish when finishing any sculpture of color as the glossy tends to reflect light as the satin captures that light and magnifies the values of the color. These are my personal preferences and for my use of carving. Your needs may differ, say if you are going to sculpt a mermaid and wanted a glistening look then glossy may be appropriate.

     You should always use a spar urethane to seal your carvings and avoid polyurethane especially for outdoor use. Use only marine grade spar urethane if using anything other than Helmsman’s as their product I am sure is fully capable of meeting those standards, as well it protects against U.V. light damage (ultra-violet).

     I was going to spray this carving but was having trouble getting the paint to spray and needed to up the value of the paint so I went to mixing in a small can and painting by hand with a ¾ inch wide painters brush designed for oil paints. It is round and has about 1 inch long bristles that allow me to thoroughly saturate into crevices the paint needed to create a uniform color pattern. It also allows blending more readily as I use the brush to swirl new paint over wide areas. I also use regular artist’s oil paint to paint when painting, and this comes in tubes and requires me to have the same amount squeezed into a thinning agent to make the paint concentration easier to repeat time after time in a uniform manner also. I test usually on a side piece till I have the right concentration to proceed.

      Well after writing out how to carve a totem I myself have begun to see an awakening in respect to how much actually does go into making a sculpture of this size and it does get more complicated with painting as opposed to burning, but again I like the results. Painting wood sculptures dates way back in time and is mostly religious by nature. But wood has been painted for centuries and will no doubt be used as a medium for many more or at least as long as we have woods to use. Who knows some day we may have to visit a tree museum to see any , according to the song ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, by Joni Mitchell. It has always been a favorite of mine since I first heard it.

     As I see the paint bring my sculptures to lifer and change the nature of a log from firewood to an art piece it overwhelms myself completely and it is the reason I do what I do. Out of all of these blogs I have done on the subject of totems I hope someday, that someone may use them  as reference on how to carve. These along with my art will help others understand what is involved, and may give a better understanding to the effort involved on both the artistic and the writing levels as an author explaining the process. I only hope I have done well.
   

    

     

its not what it is cracked up to be.

I Have Been Painting on Totem Again

  

      I am closer to finishing the totem.  It looks like I might finish by the weekend, if I get my butt in gear. Need to get the totem sealed up as it is cracking pretty well. Nothing major but enough to let me know I need to move on with this project. Time to start something new anyhow, for me it seems like it has been forever since I only work on it a couple of hours each day. I think the last time I had did a total tally of the hours I have spent on the totem to date, and it was 22 hours , and since then I know I have spent another 12 hours painting the totem to date. This would make the total hours spent so far to be around 34 hours and at the 1600 price tag would make the price per hour around 47.00/ hour. Again there are hidden costs involved in that, as I had to source the wood.

      The wood came from the tornado in Mineral City, Ohio the same day it took out the fire house. The guy I was able to get the wood from had about ten trees down on his property and gave them to me for cleaning up the mess. I spent about 2 weeks down there cleaning up his property. I received a lot of wood, but as I watch the carvings I produce I wonder if the wind didn’t whip and internally stress the trees causing more cracking than normal. I like the idea of cleaning up and reutilizing downed wood as opposed to going out and cutting down a tree for carving. In fact most of my wood is salvaged wood I use for carving. But if the tree was subjected to high winds then it may have been twisted before it fell. Winds such as you would get in a tornado.

    The pine trees seemed to just snap off at ground level leaving a stump behind. Their wood structure didn’t seem to hold up well due to the twisting motion. Whereas wild cherry and other hard wood trees would stay together and pull huge root structures up out of the ground stump and all. After cutting the log out, the stumps would settle back into the ground.

    Salvaging these logs require a tractor and heavy chain sawing to cut into length and deal with the brush afterward. A lot of firewood was gleaned from this operation and just recently I used that firewood at the family reunion to cook a hog over grates. Before it is over I will have used a good bit of the three loads of logs I transported back home, either for carving or for firewood. Nothing is wasted that I think I can use.

     Considering the cracking going on with some of my latest carvings though I might have to reconsider using trees downed by storms, instead look for trees downed by natural means instead. It may be due to the size of the log and not being dried completely through to the core as it has been only a year since the tree was salvaged. My earlier work was the Santa Claus in a wild cherry log and I think that tree may have been green yet also, as it cracked also. Sometimes it is hard to tell if trees are going to be ready to cut as time is no indicator as to when it is dry. All you can do is hope for the best.

     Some cracking gives the carving character, but a lot of cracking indicates a log to green or something else going on like internal stresses. So is there a way to reduce cracking? Not necessarily, as it seems wood has a mind of its own especially as it you cut deeper in one area and less in another. But there are ways to fix cracks if you need to. In fact you can add pieces to your carvings as I did to the totem to make a more complete carving than before. I added the wings and I have seen where people glue all kinds of things to a larger piece of wood and then carve away to form hands, halos, and whatever one would imagine. This is no different than fixing a crack.

     Another way to help reduce cracking and that is to seal the carving as soon as possible after painting and burnishing so the outside doesn’t dry out to much. This is probably the source of my cracking on the totem as the cracks seem to be equally spaced around the totem. Hopefully by the weekend I will be able to seal it all up. 

reunion and potlatch party

Family Reunion and Potlatch Party 2014

   I have a lot of pictures but want all to know a good time was had by all who attended the party yesterday. We had a hog roast done by Wild Willy and Aimee my cousin. they provided the hog and cooked it and also brought along tents and tables , Much appreciation is due to them, as well family and friends brought plenty of food and a good time was had by all. This included hay rides to the top of the farm as kids as well as adults enjoyed the ride.it was a beautiful early fall day for a party, but we may follow up with another hay ride when the colors of autumn make their entrance, for one final look at the farm for 2014 , if you were not able to make yesterdays event, then maybe you can make it to the hay ride on a yet to be announced date. 

Wild Willy preparing pulled pork for dinner. 

 a panoramic shot of party

yet another one a while later

the pond and the ducks were a hit by both kids and adults.

 some folks we haven't seen for awhile

 and hayrides 

thanks to all who came and contributed to a good time. 

the party is on, i am still free for now.

Eat a Frog

     This was an interesting quote of Mark Twain’s that suggested that the first thing one wanted to do upon getting up was tackle your worst fear and the rest of the day would be a breeze. Eating a frog is doing just that as much as one would hate to eat a frog you should go ahead and swallow your fears of doing so if that is what you must do to get it over with. Although writing isn’t my worst fear and in fact I enjoy writing almost as much as I love my art , my discipline to set down and write isn’t nearly as good as it should be, And if the task isn’t accomplished by 10 am then,generally it isn’t going to happen. I read and absorb all I can on the internet for the first half hour while I let the coffee numb my senses, and generally by this time around 8:30 am I am ready to begin writing.

    It seems to work this way, and next I plan on treating my oil painting on canvas the same way as I transform the back bedroom into a studio that is handy. This I plan on using at night in the shorter days of winter avoiding the TV as much as possible as I try to enhance my painting style with new techniques I have learned. Who knows maybe someday my paintings will be worth something?

     My day in court was enlightening in the worse kind of way. I will get a trial, but it will be before a judge and not my peers. I really can’t see a bench trial being anything but an extension of the municipal court judge’s authority to drag you back into court and give you what they wanted to give you anyhow. Along with the fine of 150 dollars I am facing, or approximately ¾ quarters of an ounce of fine bud, you also get a suspension of driving privileges for a year, even though I was never charged with operating under the influence. Beware all that are out there thinking about taking that joint along on a trip, especially on a plane in the state of Ohio, and never admit you smoked a joint, even though you may be honest. All I can hope for is that somewhere up the chain of appellate courts I will eventually get a chance to be reviewed by a court of my peers. What happened to our justice system where it seems that common people are railroaded into submission while others are free to commit atrocities on mankind repeatedly as if the justice system has one path for taxpayers and another for those hardened criminals the court system  too, has no desire to deal with, so throw them back into society and call them rehabilitated. We are talking less than a gram of pot here that I should have ate or dumped. Honesty has no place in the justice system.

       I have been practicing singing  the song , “Nobody Knows the Trouble I Have Seen “, and only hope that if I yell loud enough they will throw me in jail, although the charge carries no jail time yet, maybe then I can sing it till the roof falls in on their new jailhouse and the people in the state of Ohio will see what ----- ( at this point I will let you fill in your favorite adjective),those in our justice system and those legislators who still refuse to give Ohioans a right to choose for ourselves what is best for us individually, especially when it comes to easing pain from chronic conditions. Just think how much taxpayer money would be available as it is in Colorado, and what our politicians could do with all that extra cash. I am sure the first thing they will do is cut taxes after they build themselves a new jail and a new court house , maybe add some more rooms on down at the statehouse. Who knows what would be possible? Maybe we are better off the way it is. If you are not registered to vote, please do, and vote all that are in, out, we need to have a shakeup in our system of government, this is the only way to do that. If it says incumbent after their name, it’s time for them to go, regardless of party affiliation. Maybe then we can their attention.

      Legally drug free I continue to persevere on the totem and have a few new pics to add to the mix. A little behind on the painting and may be finishing it up tomorrow during the day or possibly it may not be done but still plan on having the potlatch party as planned. Again before there is conflagration of assholes descending on my party with guns drawn wanting to further entrench me in a legal nightmare, this is not a pot party. Instead it is a celebration of the completion of a totem as described to me when studying totems. Please spend your weekend at home, with your so called loved ones, and leave me and mine the hell alone. I have the message, it isn’t clear but will try and understand where our justice system is coming from and will leave pot alone till it is legal. But just like a cop it’s hard to believe anything I say.

Follow Up to Yesterdays Blog

     Texas managed to get their way again and executed another person by means of lethal injection. i wrote on this story yesterday but cant elaborate to much on it now as I have my own day in court to attend. Hopefully it will be just saying not guilty and leaving and no death sentence yet. here is the latest yahoo news article link:Texas executes woman convicted of starving nine-year-old - Yahoo News

maybe its just me thinking?

Death Penalty

     This opinion is based on an article i read in Yahoo News - Texas set to execute woman convicted of starving 9-year-old - Yahoo News

     I see that Texas is about to execute a woman who has been placed on death row. Whether or not she is a woman has no influence on me, instead she is the 517^th person to die in Texas where

apparently everyone is dying to live. To support that belief, it is evidenced as having had the highest death by justice rate in the United States. It is in my opinion that we are no better than criminals ourselves to allow this injustice of using the death penalty to continue.

     In this case my opinions are based on reading the article in yahoo news I intend to cite. I have several problems with Texas’s rush to justice in the execution of Mary Lee Campbell for the death of Devontae Williams. I have deepest sympathy for Devontae Williams but I feel Texas as a state shares responsibility in his death. Regardless, the last minute remorse on the part of both accused demonstrates at the very least, an ounce of compassion in their alleged crime against Devontae Williams. Also the extent to which a jury found one party, Mary Lee Campbell ,as having received one sentence for her convicted crime while the second party, Marcella Williams , Devontae’s mother having received another for part, yet both were equally responsible under law for his safe care.

      May lee Campbell received a death sentence while Devontae’s mother Marcella received only a life sentence yet both were party to the same crime. This in itself is a crime on the part of the state of Texas if allowed to proceed with their sentence as I am sure they will. All men are created equal is a term we have coined in history yet seems not to apply in our courtrooms and surely not in Texas. Along the same lines and yet another argument in favor of opposition to the death penalty in general is the fact they are criminally insane, and therefore should receive treatment or consideration for their alleged mental ability to differentiate right from wrong , the same as the mentally insane are.  In effect as the state of Texas lays claim to its inhabitants and is allowed to govern over their welfare they should also acknowledge their responsibility to provide fair and reasonable treatment of their mental and criminally insane peoples. There seems to be a rush to justice as the state of Texas wants to remove those in society that are perceived as a burden to the majority of the populace, and also as a threat to the security of the state of Texas.

      Being mentally insane and criminally insane are one and the same. The line that separates the definition of criminally insane and mentally insane is fuzzy at best. It is a grey area where it is best defined that a person is removed from society and placed in the care of the state that they were born in or committed an alleged offense in, or is perceived as threat to themselves or others, or in the last case unable to provide for themselves according to the norms of society. Any test you put to the death penalty I am sure that even the criminally insane can be put in one of these categories and their case should be weighed the same as if it were a mentally insane person. The only real difference is that the mentally insane person sometimes just thinks about hurting others. The lines that define the limits of society’s norms vary from region to region and are based on a tradition of old world mentality. Meaning that murderers are of no use to society so should be killed as they did to others.  An eye for an eye seems to be the only justice we need.   

      Is this reason to kill someone? Ethically speaking to take a life for a life or lives is no better than being murderers ourselves. Should we keep a person for life as a burden on our system? Not necessarily. Giving them the option of ending their life as it is,should always be a possibility. Suicides are prevalent in our society and we are powerless to prevent them. Faced with incarceration for life, I myself would favor a lethal dose of morphine to the forever foreboding of four walls to prevent me from having any kind of life. This should always be an option to anyone in our prison system who desires to take the easy route for society.  Otherwise I think it is human nature to err, and some crimes although never forgiven should include rehabilitation if possible or be accepted as a responsibility of the mainstream of society.  The death sentence should never be an option for a civilized society. And even here in the state of Ohio we need to take strides to repeal any death sentence and accept our burden as a state of the people to treat people equally and humanely, regardless of race and gender.

     In this case I also see that both those involved Mary Lee Campbell and Marcella Williams, in the death of Devontae Williams had tried to show remorse by feeding him and trying to keep him alive, which makes me wonder that since both of the alleged were women, then the reason he may have been kept alive was to receive benefits from the state of Texas in the form of Aid to Dependent Children. This alone makes me wonder if society didn’t let Devontae down and could have prevented his death by assuring that he was adequately cared for since I am sure he was receiving benefits from the state of Texas, in the form of welfare and food stamps. Why wasn’t there a house visit before his death or made to personally appear to assure he was alive and well and that the money spent was actually being used to raise the child. Evidence of his abuse would have been discovered early on.

   This also makes m wonder about the school system and whether they had truancy officers who would have questioned the parents about the boy’s condition since he was unable to attend school despite being 9 years old. Surely he would have missed quite a few school days in his malnourished condition. Could this have been prevented? Is the state of Texas equally culpable as they apparently had no idea the child was in such an emaciated condition, so which social service let this child down when they could have early on prevented his death? Why is there such an unbalanced form of penalty that one receives a death sentence while the other only receives life for the same crime?

      Maybe it is just the article but from the facts I have gleaned I think the state of Texas has it’s head up its ass again and needs to pull it out and take a second look before staining its hands red again. As well we here in Ohio need to value fairness in our legal system and treat the criminal element of our society as mentally insane to a degree also, especially those that are at the far end of the spectrum of our norms. Murderers and hardened criminals have a psyche of their own of non-conformity in our society due to whatever influence in their life. It is similar to being mentally insane, and we should treat it accordingly.  

   

Guilty or Not Guilty

although a little out of focus proof that they could have instantly produced me a photo on the spot as i did with my camera phone. 

     This Thursday the 18 th, is the day I go to court on my ticket for being in possession of pot or marijuana. I will need to enter a plea and that usually comes down to the judge asking if you are guilty not guilty or are you pleading no contest. I believe I am entering a plea for not guilty due to medical condition, and also due to entrapment. I have a bad back and the herb does me good at times as it takes my mind off how I feel at times. It isn’t like I am blown away or in a mind altering state, it is just me feeling average again, something a lot of people my age wish they could do in the state of Ohio. The antiquated law  prevents millions of people from administering relief in a safe proven and unfortunately illegal means of treating one’s own pain.

     It is responsible for the incarceration of thousands of individuals for varying amounts of the illegal drug, and costs the American taxpayers millions of dollars to try and prevent a harmless drug from reaching the streets, and instead of preventing its use among the populace only feeds the coffers of a black market industry that is nontaxable. Yet pot lives on and today is more prevalent than ever as millions watch progressive states like Washington and Colorado legalize marijuana and many more states allow its use for medical purposes. Am I any different than any of those people in other states who are citizens of the United States like myself?

     The only unfortunate difference is I live in Ohio. Even the federal government is taking steps to eliminate and offer early parole to drug offenders who have been incarcerated in the federal prisons due to selling or possessing huge amounts of strictly marijuana. I was caught with a very minuscule amount of pot, I would say less than a quarter of the amount needed to roll a joint. The amount was so small that at one point I thought of disposing of the pot and baggy there at the site, but instead decided to shove it back in my pocket and carry it back to the car and not litter the area where I was and where many before me had left their trash. I left no traces in those woods of myself and believe that I also threw the roach in the bag.

    The number of times I have carried pot on myself in a vehicle is very limited and close to none. They searched my vehicle and found no traces of any other pot or even a burned roach in my car. So if there is 28 grams to an ounce I would say they have less than half a gram to test. I imagine they will have to dig into their own stash to find enough to test, maybe they can contribute a few buds to their cause. Out of that one joint that was burned the amount of THC that was extracted from smoking had to be close to nothing,  just enough to ease my pain at that moment and let me enjoy the surroundings. I negotiated steep hills I had to climb out of and showed no signs of being under the influence. I just felt good till the god squad showed up to enlighten me that they had pictures of me from above smoking a joint.

     I am not one to lie, and after being presented with the so called evidence that they had observed me smoking a joint from surveillance and then saying they would make it easier on me if I agreed to cooperate, I figured I should do the right thing and admit that I had pot on me as if figured they would search me one way or another, especially if they knew I was smoking from their surveillance photos. It was only after a later discussion with the officer that I asked for a copy of the photo they had taken as evidence that I was indeed observed smoking a joint only to find out that no photo existed . He looked at me dazed as if he had just smoked a big fatty and asked me what photo. I thought surely they would have taken photos or possibly videos of this encounter to later be used in court as evidence in such a major drug bust. After all this is 2014 and it’s not like he couldn’t take the phone out of his pocket and snapped a photo of me putting a joint to my lips. Instead he said he the camera only picked up me going through the motions of me smoking a joint. I was pissed I was duped by this guy into believing if I was honest with them they would be honest with me. So I asked for a copy of the surveillance camera actually showing me going through the motions and again I was told it didn’t exist. That they had a right to protect their surveillance although it was used as a means to hold and detain me and search my vehicle on the premise that I was a major drug dealer. It was at this point of me quizzing the wildlife officer that his superior stepped in and said I should stop asking questions or fear being taken into custody for being unruly. Learning when to be quiet although I had a lot of questions and a feeling that I was being shafted is  lesson I have learned from police before, and this is a battle I needed to fight another day as I was outnumbered by four wildlife officers.

      At the same time they had detained five other individuals at the same time. One for underage drinking and pot smoking, another friend of hers for pot smoking and drinking and having an open container in vehicle, also they detained three other individuals for the same offense as me, and when checking their licenses and id’s found that they all received driver license suspensions for various reasons. These honorable folks whom I enjoyed a lively chat with had offered to replace my pot that was lost. As far as I know I was the only one issued a ticket a summons to appear. I will wait for my court date and see if any of the others appear to answer a ticket. Nobody was allowed to leave in their vehicles and I had made arrangements to be picked up and my brother drove me home.

 in fact i did take a photo of them hassling other patrons of the park with my phone. so where's their pics

       Whether any of these individuals were guilty of doing anything is not for me to decide but was only stated to show the extent to which these officers made a search of all our vehicles without any probable cause. They just swooped in and detained all who were in the parking lot at the time and made generalizations about their guilt, and hoped for the best. They kept asking if I had needles and abused other drugs, even though they had supposed evidence of me smoking pot. I was questioned first about pot , as it would be most people’s illegal drug of choice , and then heroin I guess is what they were looking for next.  They were grasping at straws hoping to be the officer who scored the big bust and would get his name in the paper or possibly even a higher position in the chain of fools. At one point they asked if that was all I had on me after scoring less than a joints worth and knowing they were going to search my vehicle . I asked them how much they wanted me to carry on myself would a pound make them happier. I told him I could only smoke one joint at a time and that what they had was all I had left.

      As one being accused of a crime I know for a fact I have a right to see the evidence produced to support a legal search, as well any statement by the officer who arrested me. He led me to believe that he had evidence and that they would go easier on me if I helped them out by being honest with them. In fact they had no evidence to even formulate a suspicion I was smoking that they can produce in today’s age of surveillance techniques that we as citizens pay the police departments dearly for. So their lack of supporting evidence would tend to make one believe it was a witch hunt. Being honest only allowed them to search my vehicle and my person to find the evidence they needed to detain me in the first place. This is called entrapment where they get you to willingly admit against your right to testify against yourself without advising you to what extent they have evidence to support their accusations. They had no right to detain me in the first place. I have no criminal record and no motor vehicle citations in the last 15 years I am aware of. Simply running my plates would have yielded no information. Apparently they have no supporting evidence on their part except my testimony that I even was guilty of anything. They interfered with my right to move freely without fear of prosecution.

      This country since 9/11 has become a police state. Guilt by association is the norm when matters are handled by the police departments. In fact if you look guilty of something it is enough probable cause to stop you and search your possessions, to see if you are guilty of being a domestic terrorist. If you don’t believe me then try climbing on a plane without going through security.   Although you may not have committed any crime you are still treated like a criminal before you have committed a crime. What has all this cost us in terms of monetary support to provide the protection necessary and individual loss freedom rights associated with the guilt association laws in effect today? I could be termed a terrorist and forbid from enjoying any rights just by saying the wrong thing, whether I meant it or not. In fact me being a citizen of the United States, I could still be whisked away to an unknown location and held indefinitely without my family or friends having any idea of what happened to me just by being labeled a terrorist. Tell me we don’t live in a police state. George Orwell’s predictions are becoming clearer daily.

      For the principles that involve me where they have infringed on my rights by outright deception in order to find evidence I will vehemently oppose any proceedings against me. I will appear as stated and have no intention of pleading guilty or of accepting the no contest status they offer. But instead choose to plead not guilty and take my chances in front of a jury trial and accept my consequences. Since I am disabled I will be requesting a public defender as my income level is such that I qualify and also the officer who has brought charges against me will be required to present his evidence and at this time I will be allowed to view all evidence prior to a trial and dispute any findings that violate anything that will be construed as testifying against myself. I am sure this will be a long and complicated procedure taking up a lot of the court’s time and money , but since they asked for a fight against my principles I say bring it on , even if it means going to jail over this. I doubt if it will come to that but I am prepared to accept the consequences and stand before a trial of my peers.

a potlatch party?

What is a Potlatch Party?

the Tin Man before being vandalized

     The potlatch party is where the receiver of the carving or totem has a party for the carver, to pay him for the successful completion of the carving. It is a time for neighbors and acquaintances to come and celebrate the addition of the new carving to the prospective buyer’s collection. How does this apply to my carving of a totem?

     In many ways it doesn’t but I am trying to follow the tradition of carving totems and in respect I figure having a party for myself is no feat compared to carving the totem and is easily accomplished. I also wanted those that have followed me a chance to view the carving or totem up close before it is sent away to the new owner who has no idea he is about to receive this carving. I doubt if he follows my blogs and probably figures I have forgot his request for a carving by now, and only hope he will be surprised by what I have done for him.

Andy Armadillo

     I owed this man a debt as he helped me out when I needed it and provided me with a car when I had just wrecked my last one. I have to admit I had a drinking problem at the time and this was in part responsible for me being in a wreck. It was wrong and wasn’t my first time, and after some agonizing reappraisal of myself, decided that should be a turning point in my life and I quit drinking. That was almost 1992 I believe, and for the most part I have stayed away from alcohol for 22 years. I am an alcoholic and I admit it freely. My finances were a mess as only a drunk would understand. I never went to AA but would recommend it to anyone who thinks they have a problem. Admission of a problem is the first step to liberating yourself from alcoholism.

    Now all that behind me and over the years this kind man has been silent and never asked for the money I owed him for the car. After a while, I too forgot about the money and though it wasn’t much it was still a debt I never repaid to someone who I have known since I was young and even rode the bus with him. At times it would haunt me when I would see him here and there, and then he figured I was the wood carver of the Tin Man at the end of the lane, and then he began asking me to carve him a totem. He said he would pay me for it, at this point I was perplexed at the thought of receiving compensation from someone who was patient and understanding and never asked for a dime of the money I owed him, there was no way I could take money from him and so I became determined to pay back a debt I owed in force, giving him more than he would ever expect.

     Out of respect for this person, and only with his permission will his name be revealed, this is the reason for the potlatch party, as I have been paid for this carving some 22 years ago. Paybacks are a bitch, but this one will be done and it will give all my friends and enemies a chance to see it before I turn it over to him. The totem is a sober reminder of the talent I was wasting back then as I am older and my body doesn’t work as well, but back then my mind was cloudy and I wasn’t thinking well, but my body was in a lot better shape. I had the talent back then, but was unsure of myself and my position in life, a regret to have wasted all that time on negative energy in my life. The eagle is a symbol of a phoenix rising as it embodies my transition from drunk to artist and also as I transfer a lifeless log into a totem worthy of displaying for its own uniqueness.

     And although I have no intentions of inviting the receiver of this totem, and since he has already been paid for it, then I guess it is up to me to celebrate the completion of this carving. I have one more carving I promised to finish for a friend of mine, and after that one can make a suggestion for a carving they would like but I intend to never again do a commissioned carving. Instead I will carve what I like and if you want it and it is for sale then I might sell it to you. I intend to be picky and try to sell quality carvings when I want to. I also want to carve for myself as I am the one I have to please first when carving. I would like to surround myself with my work and I currently have several pieces I doubt I could part with. Maybe I am being greedy or whatever you would like to call me, still I believe I receive immense pleasure as I walk around the farm and observe my carvings as a symbol of my inner strength and talent. Knowing I have produced a carving worthy of generating a smile when I sometimes need it the most, you can never have too many of those.

     Over the next week I intend to provide more information on the potlatch party this next Saturday the 20 th. At our farm here in front of the greenhouse at maybe 5pm. I will have a bonfire and its byob, byow, and byow. If I have to explain then you might as well stay home. Would like to formally invite my friends, enemies, classmates from the class of 1974, and anyone without a real purpose in life to come and enjoy the surroundings and a portion of the carvings I have done. Buy a tree, as I always have them for sale and it is becoming an ideal time to plant a privacy fence if you like. Tour the farm, and take a walk down the lane if you like. Just have a good time and enjoy. Remember I am the chainsaw guy if you would like to cause a problem. Carving an arm or a leg, or doing a little cranial surgery is not out of my limits as to what I can do if given the chance. 

glue that holds it all together

Have Been Working on the Totem

as it looks from a distance after  being glued 

        I am in a stage where it is kind of a long drawn out process that involves gluing and filling of certain areas and cracks and then taking the chainsaw and carving out the pieces glued in to create a seamless sculpture. At one point after carving a rather unique elephant I had wanted to do a larger elephant and knew a guy who was wanting to get rid of a bunch of finished planed cutoffs that could in effect be glued and doweled together to form a rather large block that I could carve into a much larger elephant. In some ways this would be good on many levels as it is hard to get wood of the size that they have to carve out West like the big redwoods.

right wing closeup of glued repair

      It would also be a beneficial reuse of a waste product. A lot of these cutoffs were from rather expensive select cuts of wood. According to the person who owned them, they were fine quality hardwoods and of the size and type one will hardly see again, and were of no beneficial use to him or any carpenter as they would take too long figure how to use and were too short to be of any real value except to use as a post in cabinet work or to heat the wood shop. I have seen lots of these cutoffs used as firewood here in our area. Some of the 4x4 inch size which would be ideal for making a full size elephant if one would want to, that once glued together, a person  could take a chainsaw and cut away everything that doesn’t look like an elephant and you would have a piece that would last for years if properly constructed and be very unique. Short pieces when glued and doweled together would be less subject to the cracking that occurs in most wood sculptures, and in comparison as to when it is a large singular piece of wood that is subject to the internal forces that distorts and twists the wood into irregular shapes,causing most of the cracking that occurs. In fact one could in effect make the carving hollow as enough strength would be gained by connecting the pieces together to form a shell of a sculpture to be crafted, allowing you to conserve glue and weigh less, and eliminate some of the time involved in the creation process. This is all purely hypothetical on my part as I have never done anything of this magnitude to assume it can be done.

left wing closeup of repair

    But I have done carving repairs and made seamless repairs where one would have to look hard to see where the repairs were made. It helps to have all the wood of the same variety and age when making repairs and if the carving is kept outside an exterior glue is necessary to assure a good bond that will last. If the piece is designed to be kept indoors, glue such as Elmer’s or any good furniture glue will suffice.

simple crack repair

     History has shown that glued laminated objects are more resilient and stronger than natural wood in its present shape. Constructing large objects such as a Trojan horse is firmly planted in our folklore for ages. So none of what I am suggesting is neither new nor innovative, instead just another variation of same old thing. We have been using glue and adhering sheets of veneer together for years and calling it plywood and up until about 20 years ago was the primary source of structural wood only to be replaced by OSB or oriented strand board which is flakes of wood pressed and heated into a plywood board shape that utilizes a large percentage of the tree required to form the sheet of board with very little waste involved. This is primarily used in construction today and forms the sides of most new houses. It is an exterior glued board much like regular plywood that can be cut and glued to form even structural timbers under factory conditions.

pretty zinnia, can never have enough pics of these

      This is all good news for American and world forests as many countries have adopted the use of OSB boards in new construction. We need products that are renewable as much of the OSB boards or sheeting is. It still requires energy in the form of heat and pressure but the trees can be grown specifically for this purpose reducing the need to squander the good wood our mature forests produce for our housing needs. This reduces our carbon dioxide emissions in the long run and preserves the habitat of wildlife in general.  In the future hopefully we can produce an earthy material that has structural and insulating capabilities that is of the earth itself and avoid using trees altogether except for trim purposes when it comes to providing a habitable housing suitable for all humans. Cob homes made of straw and plastered with cement have been around for years. In fact some have been around for 600 years or more. This method of building in today’s age of a house turning 60 and needs to be replaced, has to be stopped as our resources are dwindling and our environment is suffering from our exploitation of resources we need to sustain ourselves now and into the future. 

had to put on a thermal shirt this am

Its Dog and Duck City

view from the deck of the carving shed 

      Again the animals are about to rule the farm as my sister has returned to live at the farm and in her tow she has brought two very lively dogs to add to our montage of animals here at the farm. Surprisingly they seem to leave the ducks alone so far as if they know they are off limits. Sherry’s little one ‘Bowser’ is a stick of dynamite always ready to explode at every movement , a ball of energy all packaged into a little dog who has no idea how big or small he is. Her other dog whose name escapes me now is a darn good protector as he or she has taken to protecting mom’s house and that includes keeping me away.

tinman just thinking about when i will visit him with the weedeater

      This is all right with me as Babe is a little too friendly at times and is mostly intimidating by her size, although I doubt if anyone would want to cross her. It is nice to see Mom get some company in the house, and having my sister in there will assure that mom receives the best care possible that she could get. Having a protective dog outside the house is always good too.

      Buddy was having some adjustment problems dealing with the new additions but seems to be getting along good with the new doggies as I saw him running and playing with the new dog outside. In fact Buddy was having a great time being chased around, in comparison to Babe who would rather be chased as she is an alpha female and leader of the pack. As far as I know this is going to be a long term arrangement as Sherry and her husband intend to live here on the farm also indefinitely. I look forward to them staying as I need and want help with Mom as she needs more company than I could ever provide. She needs to have someone around and not just to check in and make sure she is alright. I would spend time talking to her and try to provide the company one would need as you get older but that is not always possible.

     Also this will allow me to be able to go on vacation and not worry about being back right away. I have been thinking of going to some carving shows and spending a couple days away, or just possibly climb on a train and head out west. The options are open and plenty, just have to figure out what I want first besides finishing the carving I am working on.

    I did manage to work on the totem and sanded at the figures defining the individual characters on there more. I need to add some pieces along the edge of the wings to fill in the cracks. This will be done with pieces of cutoffs and should result in a seamless joint that can be carved and made to look like it was all one piece. I spent another 2 hours and I am now up to 22 hours and will forego the pics of the totem today as visibly there isn’t much change in appearance except a more well defined carving. I am still on track to finish by the 20^th, and in time for my potlatch party. 

time makes all things right

A Little Time Lapse is in Order

9-5-2014

8-1-14

8-6-2014

8-8-2014

8-13-2014

8-19-2014

8-23-2014

8-26-2014

9-1-2014

9-5-2014 

    Today I will attempt to show the progress of the original log from the time I started carving till today so you can see the progress I have made in carving the log out and the difference sanding is making on the finished product. As with anything and artist does, it is the technique he or she uses that ultimately helps define that artist as being any different than the next. My technique involves doing as much as I can with the chainsaw to avoid using the grinder as much as possible as it generates a fine wood dust that covers me from head to toe. You should wear a dust mask and eye protection. Also care should be taken to avoid breathing the dust especially with spalded maple as the dust can cause respiratory problems associated with the spalding or dark streaks in aged maple as it involves a bacterial infection of the wood to create those dark streaks in the wood. Rotted or any staining in any wood may cause the same effect.  In reality one should always wear a minimum of protection in the form of a paper mask to avoid any dust particles associated with wood sanding.

     Removing all the chainsaw marks made by the chain and polishing and sanding too much will rob a carving of its identity if you take it to the extreme. People think chainsaw marks adds detail and character to the carving and makes it unique. I have to agree with that and for that purpose try to leave a little roughness in each carving. In some areas I will not be able to get the grinder into; I intend to burn and add some shading by singeing those areas inaccessible on the carving. The roughness along with long fibers burns quite easily at this point and singes and darkens those areas making it appear as shading and also serves to seal the end of the cut fibers making the carving harder. This will be my next step after I finish sanding the carving. Burning the ends of wood tends to make it harder and will last longer and was a common practice with primitive man when making tools he would use.

      Buddy, Mom’s dog likes the deck as well I do also, as it gives him and I a chance to allow me to pet him without bending over as the little guy is a long ways down there. At the height of the deck all I have to do is reach out and pet him. Every time I am around the deck he knows to run up there and wait for a pet. It makes Babe, my dog a little jealous so I have to watch how much I make over him.