May Competition 2016 by B. Russo

Woodburning! .... (a short story)

Bill Tries Pyromania 

While Carving by Bill Russo

Mel the Carver told me that he would give me a few

pointers about wood burning at the Monday session. He was
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.

SUMMER TIME - PEACH PIT CARVING

HISTORICAL  BACKDROP

Peach pits have been carved for several centuries: Tim Hallman of the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, California contends that the craft originated in China where the Peach is a symbol of longevity(1);  Wang Xu-De, in a summary about the history of peach pit carving in China, notes "Peach stone carving has a long history in China and is first recorded in the middle of the Song dynasty [960 -1279]"(2);  it also is recorded that AHandiwork of pit carving was all the rage for a time in the Ming [1368-1644] and Qing [1644 -1911] Dynasties.@(3);  [and]  folklore exhibits of the Sichuan University Museum in south-central China include Asome fantastically small carvings including a miniature boat and crew carved from a peach pit.@(4)

More recently: Michigan State University lists "Peach Pit Carving" on its "... topical file subjects" relating to the Michigan Traditional Arts Program.   Articles have been published about peach pit carving in both China and America in, for example, the periodical Chip Chats.  Carvings have been displayed at art and craft festivals.  And, a few web sites describe and/or illustrate relatively recently carved peach pits.

So far as the place peach pit carving has in the world of arts and crafts, the following rather apt statement seems to "say it all" – i.e., for all, save a few professional, peach pit carvers whom I know or have read about:  "This unusual art form seems not to be attached to any specific region, ethnic group, or occupation.  One simply occasionally finds folks who like to sit down and carve tiny figures and baskets out of peach pits...@(5).

PITS and TOOLS

Peach pits, sometimes referred to as peach stones or even peach seeds, comprise the cores of the widely eaten fruit called peach. 

A Wood Carvers Poem

A Wood Carvers Poem

I Saw This Piece Of Wood One Day

When I Picked It Up It Seemed To Say

There’s Something Hiding Inside Of Me

Remove Some Chips And You Will See

I Looked To See What I Might Find

And Soon An Image Came To Mind

My Task Was Now To Set It Free

What’s Hidden In This Piece Of Tree

With Loving Care Each Cut Was Made

Wood Peeled Off With A Sharp Edged Blade

And As Each Chip Fell To The Floor

I Could See The Object More And More

By One Final Cut It Was Set Free

My Work Of Art For All To See

This Piece Of Wood Which Would Just Lay

And See It’s Body Soon Decay

Was Now Transformed And Given Life

With Careful Cuts Of Gouge And Knife

By Carving Something From This Tree

It Lives Again Because Of Me

By Gnomes Hollow Wood Working

THE LI WOOD CARVERS SHOW

 

THE LI WOOD CARVERS SHOW
The annual show will be: Sunday Sept. 25, 2016 -10 AM-4PM
Levittown Hall 201 Levittown Parkway Hicksville, NY 11801

Presented by: The Levittown Lions Club, The Long Island Wood Carvers Assoc., The Greater New York Wood Carvers

Proceeds to benefit The Guide Dog Foundation For The Blind and to Promote Wood Carving on long Island
PLAN TO ATTEND...

New Meeting Location

We are now meeting at

The Marjorie Post Community Ctr
451 Merrick Rd
Massapequa, NY 11758

Until further notice!

Stump Carving!

 A great alternative to stump removal...
click below \/

http://www.youtube.com/embed/2a1QISYNGHs?rel=0

Newsday article...

Wood carving clubs on Long Island teach the craft to seniors

December 4, 2015 4:09 PM
By Stacey Altherr  Special to Newsday 

A variety of Viking figures, including two that are still being worked on, carved in the flat plane technique by Tony Quattrone, 63, of the Suffolk County Wood Carvers Guild. Photo Credit: Daniel Brennan

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Open to expert and novice carvers
• Totem poles to wooden gnomes

The smell of freshly carved wood is in the air at the New Village Recreation Center in Centereach. At a long table, men and women are working with short, sharp knives. Their art varies from a decoy duck to an intricate cross. There are gnomes and old-fashioned Santas. Some pieces are as small as a clothing pin. Others stand 3 feet tall.

The designs are intricate, and the work, done by hand, is as precise as a machine. Faces of Santas twinkle, and the growl of the gnomes can be read on the faces of the carved gems. Marty Mizel, 70, shows his 2-foot totem pole carved in cottonwood bark, the hair of one caricature melding into the beard of another above it.

What Is Pakkawood?

By G.D. Palmer  Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_8663758_pakka-wood.html

eHow Contributor 

Pakkawood, also sold as Staminawood, Colorwood, Dymondwood and compreg, is an engineered wood/plastic composite material commonly used in knife handles and other objects that see rough wear. It can closely resemble conventional wood, or come in a range of bright colors. According to Jay Fisher, a professional knifemaker, this phenolic-impregnated wood is currently made primarily by Rutland Plywood Corp. and sold under the Dymondwood trademark.

What Is It?

 
The problem with writing a coherent essay on any item is that generally the writer is somewhat at a disadvantage. Make one mistake or perhaps use a regional name for the description and the switchboard lights up with corrections from almost all points on the planet. I do not know whether that is reflective of the market penetration of the Lee Valley newsletter or the fact that there are some pretty sharp readers out in the Ethernet just looking for some action. Well, I may have struck gold this time, folks.