great at it and I asked him if he could show me how it was
done.
Mel was here when I arrived, wood burner already hot
and the smell of smoking basswood was in the air. He was
adding hair to a chimpanzee carving. These are of a gorilla.
I settled into my spot, took out the bear and began to
pencil in some general lines that flowed in the directions that
I thought looked proper.
“Lines too short..make them a little longer…good…good. “
said Jerry.
“He put it down on the table!” said someone..Use the
resting spot….That’s better…”
“Mel who Looked over now and then, said..”Take a
break…You’ll get tired..lose your concentration and it wouldn’t
be good to lose your concentration.”…I stopped, flexed my
hand and took a short break. I looked at the bear and it was
actually looking pretty good…
We ran out of time before the bare bear was covered
with hair burns.
Then I will as the wood burning mavens about painting
the bear vs just oiling the bear…I can hear them now;
“Oil is best..Use oil”…”Paint it.It’ll look great”…. “Paint it
and then oil it. That’s what I do.”…”Do what you want. It’s
your bear.”
“You want to borrow my wood burner?” Jerry The Shoe
had promised to bring in a carved bear for me to use as a “go
by”. He had his bear out on the able and as I looked at it he
made the offer to go to his car to get his woodburner.
“Set the controls to this spot,” said Jerry..”Too hot is
no good..Not hot enough is no good…this spot is good.”
“Here is the resting spot for the tip…Very hot…Put it
here otherwise you’ll forget..and then you’ll pick to up..Not a
good idea.” Jerry sounded like the voice of experience.
I picked up the tool and made some tentative burns on
the bear while Jerry commented.”Not so long with the lines…a
little shorter….Too short…Make them a little longer…Good…
good…” and so it went.
Mel was watching and said..”Good..So now you’re a wood
burner”
Howie looked over and said…”Yeah..he’s a regular
arsonist.”
“Looks like a possible pyromaniac to me,” said someone
nearby..
