Carving, Chiseling, Chainsawing, Dremeling
My mother gifted me a weekend of carving at the John C. Cambell Folk School. It was a kitchen utensil course, carving them by hand with a small carving knife. I only cut myself once!
I came back from Italy inspired and started carving...
There is so much beauty in Italy, and after returning, I felt inspired to carve, especially after my friend gave me an old piece of wood from her cabin in Milton. I used a ruler, a couple tennis can lids, an old mallet, and a chisel set from amazon (this one).
I kind of free-handed it and tried to keep it somewhat symmetrical, but I also embraced the wabi sabi beauty of all the rough edges, mistakes, knots, and pencil lines.
The chiseling was much more refined than my previous experience with a chainsaw.
I saw that a neighbor was taking down a large river birch tree next to their house, and the crew was throwing away the pieces. I brought a few of the trunk lengths home in a yellow wagon and had a vision of a side table with a rectangular shelf in the center. I used a chainsaw to slice off the bark and create flat sides. I propped the log up while laying on its side and cut the shelf out of the middle. I finished it by sanding the sides, but I left the saw marks in the shelf for contrasting texture.
This wood carving was made using a dremel and various carving attachments...
