(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-20-10 Saturday
54 degrees early morning, 78 under the awning very light breeze, blue sky, almost no clouds, mostly around the horizon. This weather report was brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.
Thursday was the turning club meeting. I brought my sea urchin ornaments, my face vase and flower vase. I asked the carving club director about it and she said that the face vase was so much better. She gave me a price on the flower vase about half that of the face vase. I trust her decision.
the flower vase
I asked about the Linseed oil finish. I was told that you should soak it for three days, which will make the wood more transparent. then let it sit and dry for about a month. I was also told that wipe-on poly varnish has driers so it will dry the piece faster.
I took pictures at the turning club and will drop off a CD of the club tomorrow at the WoodCrafts store we have our meeting at.
The demonstration was on hollowing deep pieces. I saw new tools I can make or get, and picked up a few points of technique.
Me holding my two vases.
Me holding the light house platter.
Friday, I gathered my finished pieces an took pictures of most of them. I then packed them up to take with me on Saturday.
Saturday, after breakfast and some yard sailing, went out back and bothered that beast that mom keeps in the back yard. it is really strange. he acted exactly like a temperamental cat. I mean he was a cat, not a Grinch. On Thursday, I had stopped at Mom's house and went out to feed him. I made the mistake of placing hy hands on his face from the front, and rubbing his chin a little with my thumb. He simply pulled his head out of my hands and turned away. Even six months ago, My hands would have been raw meat, or at least bleeding from a scratch, had I made that mistake then. He is letting me handle him more than he ever had before. He still has an attitude, but his claws stay on the ground and he simply pulls away. He does not look me off too often now.
I had loaded the truck up with all the turnings and small carvings worth looking at. At mom's house, when we got back from running around, I dragged everything into the back yard. I needed to set up a "mock up" of the table I would use at the club so I can see what will fit and what won't.
I first made the mistake of making the table ten feet long. I piled stuff on it, then was reminded it was eight feet long. That changed things. At ten feet, I had some boards spanning the to tables. One is four inches shorter than the other. At eight feet, the two tables are next to each other. Not easy to span the height difference. I had to dig out some four=bys to raise the lower table up till it was close enough.
the lower table is three feet across, but the other table is only two feet. I placed some boards along the back edge to give a little bit more width.
I had most of my turnings and small carvings on the table. I then picked out stuff that just do not need to be seen. I was fixing things as I was going. One of my female pixies is holding a flower. The flower disappeared. I made a new one, using a dremmel to shape the petals. I painted it in two colors so it was more flower like, and glued it onto the wire that was the stem. Not as good as the original flower which I actually turned to create, but not bad.
I dug out all my wooden ear rings and hung them on a wire and varnished them with spray varnish. They are better than they were.
I fixed a few other things. My apples and pears needed a blossom on the bottom. I picked up some cloves at the store. cloves have a little puff ball on the end. Remove that, and a four pointed "flower" appears. I drilled a hole in the bottom of the fruit and stuck the puff-less cloves into the hole. they look more like the fruit they are supposed to be. I gave them a bunch of varnish. These are not my worst fruit, but they are nothing near my best. For the show, they will be passable, and they will be cheap.
I laid everything out, changing arrangements changing the way things are displayed. I never got the large carvings out, but did well to get something that resembles a passable display. I have to do some changes to get the big carvings on the table but I have a good feeling for what I have shown.
I needed this practice to see what I had and what would work and won't work. With what I have, I could use three tables worth of space and not really be satisfied.
I have a four place setting -- saucers, wooden silverware, goblets. that I would love to set up as a display. I have pumpkins, pies, the fruit plate all would be a nice display together.
I decided when I got home, to varnish the flower vase and the beer stein. It changes some plans but I decided I needed them done. I should sand them tomorrow and varnish them again.
Tomorrow, I will set up the table again, this time with the large carvings. I will see what arrangement is best for them.
I need to sit down and work out the prices of my pieces. The way I price things, is that I know the price of a couple things, and then decide if I like something better or worse than the one I already know the price. the better I like something the higher the price. the less I like something, the lower the price. I want some cheep stuff to shove out the door.
I will see what I actually do tomorrow.
year 10, Week 10, Day Two (week 532)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-21-10 Sunday
Lows in the high 60s, high of 80 degrees. Strong, brisk wind, fast moving low clouds, some dark grey. We got a few drips during the day, maybe two or three drips a minute. We also got some sun now and then. It felt like 70 degrees.
The tail of a low is about to slap us again. According to the ten day weather forecast I saw yesterday, Saturday and Monday is supposed to be a bit weathered, but Sunday is supposed to be sunny. That is exactly what we need for the art show as some people will be outside.
This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.
There is a cat in the back yard that resembles the beast. He still has an attitude, but he has not retaliated to anything I have done to him and he has really enjoyed my attention. Each time I go up there, he acts more cat like. Surprising what two and a half years of taming can do. when I started, he would swat at you after you petted him six times. I would give him a few mouthfuls of food, pet him his six times, then give him more and pet him again. Now he wants attention more than he wants food. I never expected him to get to this point.
I set up the tables again and laid out my work. this time I got the big carvings on display. Mom, my brother and his wife, all liked my work. My brother and I figured out that the unusual pieces, such as natural edged work, and the carved/decorated pieces are where I am at my best. I have very few "normal" pieces in my display.
I have enough room for all the pieces I have picked out, but it is not enough room to display it properly. I could easily use twice or three times the space.
I would love to set up a dinner table arrangement. I have candle sticks, saucer sized plates, wooden silverware, goblets, fruit plates, wooden pumpkins wooden pies, that would be a nice display all by themselves. I just don't have the room. Everything ends up being jumbled together, rather haphazardly. It cannot be helped.
I see that my turnings take up most of my space. that is not a problem as most of my turnings are carved anyway.
I did not have it exactly the way I wanted, and had not placed some items where they needed to be. I was still working on various projects while getting things set up. I saw some really dark clouds coming and decided to pack up the display. The clouds passed without notice and the sun came out soon after. By then, I was involved in another project.
All my turnings and small stuff fits into two bins. My large carvings will have to go into several boxes simply because they would break if stacked.
I had made two female pixies holding flowers. Yesterday, I ran across one without a flower. I took some time to make a flower from the remains of a turning I had. I simply cut off a disk at the end and did a little grinding to shape it like a flower.
I was shocked when I pulled out a female pixy today and she was missing a flower. I looked in the bin and the flower was not there. I then realized this was a second one I had made.
I took the end of the turning and made another flower. I had it painted and was attaching it to the wire that was the stem, when it split in half. I tried repairing it but the joint had not set long enough. I realized it was not going to hold even after it was glued I took the end of the turning, and with some grinding, shaped it to a flower and cut it off.
Always wear glasses or a face shield when working with cutoff wheels on dremmel. those things can really fly when the break. I as cutting off the flower. the piece came off, and the cut-off wheel shattered. A very hot piece hit my arm, then went down inside my shirt. I got it out of my shirt, and then found the flower and also turned th dremmel off. the piece actually left a tiny burn on the side of my upper arm. ouch!
I later took the dremmel with the square grinding bit and shaped my flower. It is conical shaped and has five petals. I painted it red, with pink on the ends, and a yellow center. I have no idea what it is but it looks pretty good in the pixy's hand.
I forgot to mention yesterday, that one project I did was to remove the date from the lighthouse platter. Mom said it did not look good and should not be on there anyway. I ground it off and then sanded it smooth, before adding varnish to make ti match the rest of the platter.
I dug out my paints and started painting the baby dragon. My results were not as I had hoped. I don't have that paint color at home so some corrections will be in a different shade of red. I think I can get it right this time. will see. She was painted white overall. I now have added red as a body color with some features still white. I will then add a blue or green as a second color and leave her like that. My main thing is to get the edges clean. Sitting here, looking at the candle she was based on, I see she was colored a bit differently than I am doing it, but since I need an air brush to match the candle, I am using a bit of logic in the color.
when flying, one would expect her to have her legs trailing behind her. Most creatures have a light underbelly and dark top. for land animals, it reduces contrast when in the sun. In the air, the white helps them blend with the sky when one is looking up, and the dark upper body blends with the ground below, I have her belly and insides of her front legs white, along with a stripe down the underside of the tail.
It is not exact but seams to be better than it was. It sure is easier to paint, that is for sure. I am not trying to reach between the tail and arms that are holding the tail, to paint.
I had decided not to exactly copy the candle since my painting skills are not that good.
When I got home last night, I soaked the flower vase and the beer stein I am making, in wipe-on varnish. I was going to give them another coat, today but forgot the varnish at home. I let them set out in the wind and sun to dry some more.
I have a bunch of sanding on both of them to do, then will give them more varnish.
I picked up some stickers on the way home today and now can lay my pieces out and decide exactly what price the pieces need to be, and add a sticker for that price. Little will remain the way they are marked. a number of items will be more expensive, while others will be a whole lot cheaper. essentially, the more normal a piece looks, the less likely I will want to hang onto it.
I also went to WoodCrafts picked up a few of their fliers. In previous shows, I have tried to tell about where they are to people who needed carvings or turnings, or wanting to learn. I will now be able to hand them a flier which has the map and address.
Next Sunday is the art show. During the week, I will be doing some finishing on selected pieces. Friday, I will be going to Mom's house and try to finish a few projects. I will also set up the tables again and see if I can come up with a better arrangement. I will also see if I can figure out the best way to pack things so they come out and be placed quickly.
Saturday, I will likely prepare pencil head blanks to speed the carving of them. I can do some pre-cutting and shaping so I have less wood to remove when I carve during the show.
One thing I do before every art show is to sharpen every knife I have. I have had art shows where I was dulling knives vaster than I was sharpening them. I might get a nick and have to go to another knife. I learned more about sharpening and more about knife usage, but getting every single knife sharp seams to be a good habit. I will also get my carving kit together, removing stuff I don't need and making sure I have things to make the show more enjoyable.
I also may work on projects that don't have to be done. I have plenty of projects in process that I can work on, to fill the day a little before it is time to leave.
during the week, I have to check over my ABOUT THE ARTIST paper and see if it needs updating and then print some more out.. I also need to print up some more cards.
I will see what I actually accomplish next weekend.
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