carving beyond a turkey...
I took Best of Show in the State Fair with a life-size five-foot coiled Egyptian Cobra, said Al! And, it had 3,000 scales on its body, he added.
HUH? What's up with that?
H?WUWT? is checking out activities POS (people over 60) choose to invest their time and energy. By chance, we came upon one of the oldest practices in the world...wood-carving. Few of us know about the art, unless you can recall scenes of Grandpa McCoy (Walter Brennan, The Real McCoys) sitting in a rocking chair dispensing wisdom while whittling on a stick with his pocket knife as Kate and Luke ran the household (last episode aired in 1963).
Decorative wood goes back to prehistoric days when it was used for enhancing handles and tools as well as for making weapons. In ancient Egypt, wood-carved religious figures were placed in tombs to protect the dead. Today, those carvings prove to be a fascinating and interesting part of ancient history.
The Falls City Wood-Carvers Guild is an organization of 25 to 30 men and women who are mostly retired. They take the art of wood-carving to an exceptionally high level. You will meet three members of that group today.
Our narrative begins with Al, who has been retired nine years.
He is in his mid-60s and stepped down from a sales and marketing career with two major corporations. Al and his wife Sandy have a couple of adult children and eight grandchildren. One son has passed away.
When Al answered a newspaper ad for a second-hand item he had been trying to find, he noticed the seller's barn was loaded with several varieties of wood. The man explained to Al that he was a wood-carver as well as a wood-worker. Al was intrigued and asked a lot of questions. Following that chance visit, Al purchased some basic tools to get started and has been a wood-carver ever since.
His first project was born in Welsh folklore. Love spoons. The oldest known example can be found in the Welsh Folk Museum in Cardiff and is dated around 1667, though the tradition probably dates before that. Al made a love spoon for Sandy. The design can include a daffodil or heart or any number of carved items and each image has a different meaning.
Al patiently explained the variety of carvings he can decide to pursue on any given project. Chip, relief, love spoon, treen, whittling, caricature, Scandinavian, and chainsaw carving. Each piece of art requires different hand tools, and as Al related, The larger the work, the larger the tools.
The utensils used also depend upon which type of carving you are undertaking. Al said, During the creation of a piece, you may use two or three kinds of chip carving knives, chisels, or gouges. When asked for an example, he elucidated, The difference is you may go to different depths for different elements of a piece. He added, Maybe you're doing a face and you want the eyes to be deeper...you would use a different size gouge or chisel.
After talking with Al and others in the organization, it is clear each person considers their work pieces of art. Al, William, Joenie, Michael, Larry, and Milton were all tremendously helpful for this post. Jonie has only been with the Guild a short time, but she enjoys the creativity.
Wood-carving doesn't attract the number of women as it does men, but Jonie is an exception.
Jonie is the president of the Guild. She is still working full-time and sells for Mary Kay Cosmetics. Jonie's husband is an airplane mechanic and the couple have three children, two of which are still at home.
Jonie has been involved with Falls City Wood-Carvers for two years. Meetings are held in a government center in a suburban area. She became interested in wood-carving when she was in the building for business purposes and saw a sign advertising weekly Tuesday morning gatherings of woodcarvers. Jonie said she decided to attend the next week's meeting.
A cash outlay of about 150 dollars provided her with all the tools she needed. She says, I don't spend a lot of time carving every week, but I do as much as possible.
Jonie has completed three canes and is working on a fourth one. Among her creative efforts, Joenie said, I have made a fishing cane with a fish on the handle and a snake cane. She added, I'm working on one that's a gristmill with people plunging down a waterfall.
Jonie says anywhere from 20 to 30 wood-carvers show up for any given meeting, including their newest member, Milton, also known by some as The Captain. It's an unofficial title given to him by a family member.
Milton retired from American Standard Brands several years ago. He is married to Violet and they have one son.
The Captain found Falls City Wood-Carvers the same way as Joenie. He says he had only attended a couple meetings when CoVid-19 struck.
Milton's history of making functional or decorative items from wood goes back decades.
His final year of grade school, The Captain signed up for a shop class. Milton said, My first project was a bed that's still in use today. Since then, he has made countless projects out of wood. To aid his effort, he said he has four toolboxes full of tools. He went on to say, The very first thing I bought with my first American Standard paycheck was a table saw.
35 years ago, Milton took Adult Education classes and learned the art of customizing picture frames. He purchased the necessary equipment and started his own side business in his garage.
Milton went on to explain how an illness has forced him to give up some of his creative passions for now. We hope The Captain has a full recovery.
Each artist voiced concern about the present world pandemic and is looking forward to its conclusion. As William, whom you will meet next time said, We have coffee and pastries at each meeting and it's a great chance to socialize with others. When we're back doing that, I'll know we're normal.
Coming up in the near future, we'll find out about one of the newest activities POS are involved with.....Pickleball.
The Falls City Woodcarvers Guild website will show you some amazing work. You may want to check it out.
The different types of wood-carving were fascinating, especially chainsaw. But, it's not for me, because plainly, it would be a massacre.
HUH? What's up with that?
HUH? What's up with that?
H?WUWT? is checking out activities POS (people over 60) choose to invest their time and energy. By chance, we came upon one of the oldest practices in the world...wood-carving. Few of us know about the art, unless you can recall scenes of Grandpa McCoy (Walter Brennan, The Real McCoys) sitting in a rocking chair dispensing wisdom while whittling on a stick with his pocket knife as Kate and Luke ran the household (last episode aired in 1963).
Decorative wood goes back to prehistoric days when it was used for enhancing handles and tools as well as for making weapons. In ancient Egypt, wood-carved religious figures were placed in tombs to protect the dead. Today, those carvings prove to be a fascinating and interesting part of ancient history.
The Falls City Wood-Carvers Guild is an organization of 25 to 30 men and women who are mostly retired. They take the art of wood-carving to an exceptionally high level. You will meet three members of that group today.
Our narrative begins with Al, who has been retired nine years.
He is in his mid-60s and stepped down from a sales and marketing career with two major corporations. Al and his wife Sandy have a couple of adult children and eight grandchildren. One son has passed away.
When Al answered a newspaper ad for a second-hand item he had been trying to find, he noticed the seller's barn was loaded with several varieties of wood. The man explained to Al that he was a wood-carver as well as a wood-worker. Al was intrigued and asked a lot of questions. Following that chance visit, Al purchased some basic tools to get started and has been a wood-carver ever since.
His first project was born in Welsh folklore. Love spoons. The oldest known example can be found in the Welsh Folk Museum in Cardiff and is dated around 1667, though the tradition probably dates before that. Al made a love spoon for Sandy. The design can include a daffodil or heart or any number of carved items and each image has a different meaning.
Al patiently explained the variety of carvings he can decide to pursue on any given project. Chip, relief, love spoon, treen, whittling, caricature, Scandinavian, and chainsaw carving. Each piece of art requires different hand tools, and as Al related, The larger the work, the larger the tools.
The utensils used also depend upon which type of carving you are undertaking. Al said, During the creation of a piece, you may use two or three kinds of chip carving knives, chisels, or gouges. When asked for an example, he elucidated, The difference is you may go to different depths for different elements of a piece. He added, Maybe you're doing a face and you want the eyes to be deeper...you would use a different size gouge or chisel.
After talking with Al and others in the organization, it is clear each person considers their work pieces of art. Al, William, Joenie, Michael, Larry, and Milton were all tremendously helpful for this post. Jonie has only been with the Guild a short time, but she enjoys the creativity.
Wood-carving doesn't attract the number of women as it does men, but Jonie is an exception.
Jonie has been involved with Falls City Wood-Carvers for two years. Meetings are held in a government center in a suburban area. She became interested in wood-carving when she was in the building for business purposes and saw a sign advertising weekly Tuesday morning gatherings of woodcarvers. Jonie said she decided to attend the next week's meeting.
A cash outlay of about 150 dollars provided her with all the tools she needed. She says, I don't spend a lot of time carving every week, but I do as much as possible.
Jonie has completed three canes and is working on a fourth one. Among her creative efforts, Joenie said, I have made a fishing cane with a fish on the handle and a snake cane. She added, I'm working on one that's a gristmill with people plunging down a waterfall.
Jonie says anywhere from 20 to 30 wood-carvers show up for any given meeting, including their newest member, Milton, also known by some as The Captain. It's an unofficial title given to him by a family member.
Milton retired from American Standard Brands several years ago. He is married to Violet and they have one son.
The Captain found Falls City Wood-Carvers the same way as Joenie. He says he had only attended a couple meetings when CoVid-19 struck.
Milton's history of making functional or decorative items from wood goes back decades.
His final year of grade school, The Captain signed up for a shop class. Milton said, My first project was a bed that's still in use today. Since then, he has made countless projects out of wood. To aid his effort, he said he has four toolboxes full of tools. He went on to say, The very first thing I bought with my first American Standard paycheck was a table saw.
35 years ago, Milton took Adult Education classes and learned the art of customizing picture frames. He purchased the necessary equipment and started his own side business in his garage.
Milton went on to explain how an illness has forced him to give up some of his creative passions for now. We hope The Captain has a full recovery.
Each artist voiced concern about the present world pandemic and is looking forward to its conclusion. As William, whom you will meet next time said, We have coffee and pastries at each meeting and it's a great chance to socialize with others. When we're back doing that, I'll know we're normal.
Coming up in the near future, we'll find out about one of the newest activities POS are involved with.....Pickleball.
The Falls City Woodcarvers Guild website will show you some amazing work. You may want to check it out.
The different types of wood-carving were fascinating, especially chainsaw. But, it's not for me, because plainly, it would be a massacre.
HUH? What's up with that?
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