So I've Taken Up Wood Carving....

I've signed up for a Christmas market which will be in less than 2 months time, so am getting my skates on and trying to make as many Christmas carvings I can, along as this commission I have been given.

I've now learnt that people will commission you willy nilly but not many of them are serious about it. The lady has my phone number and if she does wish me to go through with it then I will happily make up what she wants.

Also managed to finish my 3 wise men while at the exhibition. I still need to figure out what the last two wise men should be holding. Frankincense and myrrh were liquids so need to find something small and vessel shaped.

 

Just finished my commission I got from my little exhibition a few weeks back. I was asked to make a fat jolly Santa for a lady to give to her grandchildren. I had to make a sack out of fabric too (I have a love/ hate relationship with sewing) and I think she may want me to fill it with presents or she wants to fill his sack up with sweeties, she hadn't decided yet.

Anyway here are the pictures.

 

A sure winner there Jane. They'll sell like hot cakes.... Re the 3 Wise men. Is the last one 0n the far end holding a bar of gold? I can't see well enough. So, if not, some gold bars possibly?
Jenny
Jenny

 

That's really cute JJ.

This might be another idea for you, on Redstar's post #380.

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/crafters-corner.53565/page-19

 

I don't intend to do another santa for a few weeks as I only did it as a commission for someone and I'm not sure if they would take too kindly to me mass producing something that they thought would be a one off. I will have to speak to them and see what they say. I suppose I could always make them smaller.....

Here's the Work In Progress of it from Start to finish if anyone is interested.
http://gracesilverwood.wordpress.com/fat-jolly-santa-christmas-2014/

The wise men now have gifts and I have to admit I didn't give one of them a gold bar. One has a walnut box, which I thought people might see as having gold inside, but perhaps I may paint this just gold. Frankincense and myrrh were oils or resins I think and so made a couple of bottles out of some wooden beads glued together. These gifts are not in the photo I uploaded a few posts up, only the box is.

Thanks for the suggestion. I was turning toadstools a few weeks back, but not to that scale and am hoping to turn a few christmas trees soon too.

 

Loofah, you have been PM'd

I decided to swallow my pride/fear yesterday and posted up my owrk on a woodcarving forum I have been lurking around for the past year or so and all of the feedback has been really positive. I finally feel accepted as a wood carver now. Here's the thread if anyone is interested.

http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/forum/f61/birds-59370/

 

Taking the first step is the worst JJ! You've certainly got some positive feed back on the site.

 

I expect that you are the only person reading this who was surprised by that , the rest of us have taken that as a Given; I certainly couldn't even begin to knock out creations with that slightly quirky and whimsical style that you achieve so easily; I'm guessing that those on this forum who could do that are few in number, maybe even none-in-number

Keep up the good work, and thanks for posting pictures of your work as they are always a joy to see

 

JJ, In your post on the wood carving forum you were asking about a tool for clearing out waste in a tight area. MrH uses a small Auriou riffler for this sort of job. I'm sure he didn't spend £50 on it (or if he did he didn't tell me!!). He's also got a set of Drapers word carving chisels which are very cheap but very useful for light work including cleaning up in small areas.

 

Thank you . It's taken me over a year to really do it but now I don't see what all the fuss was about.

Thank you, that does mean a lot to me. I haven't forgotten about you carrot handle idea btw. When I get the time I will have a crack at knocking one up.

I used to want to want rifflers but, wow those ones are expensive! I better get saving. The draper chisels I will probably take a punt on though. Please thank your hubby for me.

 

More pictures. This time of a small nativity scene I have been working on for the upcoming Christmas market, in just over a months time. (The 3 wise men I had been working on previously are about the height of the stable roof in comparison) Stable was made by me too, out of offcuts with a piece of perspex which I glass painted a scene on in the background. Jesus still needs a crib and some of the paint work needs a bit of touching up but it's pretty much done.





I'm now making things almost every afternoon and the ideas are really flowing out of me. If anyone can think of anything they think may sell please let me know, as I'm always open to ideas.

Also have a reject carving I'm not sure what to do with. Will post pictures of it later on today as someone might have some ideas what to turn it into.

 

that is truly beautiful Jane,
Jenny