Why Carving Clubs?

Carving Clubs… who needs them? I have given this some thought over the past few months as our local club went through a tough time.
We lost some key members who were dear to us and to be quite frank we have gone through a period of mourning.
Being a fairly small, group of close knit individuals we would meet every two weeks at a local store for the past ten years.
Their loss would have more of an impact to us than we would care to admit.
But there was more, we had grown a bit lackadaisical in attendance. Sometimes folks would show up… sometimes not. I too (sorry to say) fell to the complacency of everyday cares and failed to appreciate the need to get together as a group and talk and carve.

So why clubs? Carving clubs offer members an opportunity to meet and share designs, patterns, styles, techniques; tips, on painting, tools, sanding, turning, finishing, to show or not to show. And a myriad of other benefits.

Most importantly… being an active member of a carving club gives you the opportunity to spend time with “like-minded” individuals who share a love of wood sculpture in all its forms.
That my friend IS what it’s all about.
Happy Carving-Jack the Carver

Carving the Government Furlough- 10-15-2013

Jack-the-Carver

Jack the Carver Carving the Government Furlough-

I’ll try to keep politics out of the equation today… okay, I tried.
The moronic debacle going on in Washington these days has had a positive effect, though negative on my bank account.
I’m not one of the Federal Workers who will get reimbursed after a deal is reached as the company I work for sub-contracts with the Energy Department.
We were furloughed as well, but don’t have the same covering as the “Feds.”
On the positive side, I was able to make ready hundreds of file to update the www.aikenwoodcarvers.org website. The update should be ready to go online in a couple of weeks.
It will more interactive for the visitor.
Happy Carving,
Jack

After the Meeting… March 31, 2009

Bob’s Leaving…

Sorry to report that Bob Raney will be leaving us for higher ground this week. Bob and his lovely wife are moving to the hills of N. Carolina.    Fresh mountain air… carving on the front porch… chicken brewing on the stove. Bob you will be missed, but keep in touch. 

Well news ain’t all bad.

Marge is feeling better and was able to attend last nights meeting, but in the eyes of this writer, was somewhat disruptive. Ned was no help and just kept carving. I think he’s skeered of her. Finally got her settled down and got some business done after we got the ol’ gavel out and “hammered down!”

Bees & Grass…  Happy to report that John’s bees have settled in and are buzzy working on the hive.   It was nice of his wife   to volunteer to cut grass   while John cooks a meal for the clubs 50/50.      Hope I win.

Show & Tell: Everybody …. well most everybody , brought something to show and tell about what they brought. Very nice time, very nice carvings. Will place pics on website very soon.

Picnic coming up soon!!! May2, 2009.

I host a website for the local carving club, the Aiken Wood Carvers Club at www.aikenwoodcarvers.org . We’d love for you to stop by for a visit.

 That’s all for now- Happy Carving and “Cherrio”  – Jack

After the Meeting – March 2, 2009

Dateline March 2, 2008, our mild-mannered carving reporter here…

The Aiken Wood carvers being the helpful bunch we are; took our valuable meeting time to assist one of our own in making one of the most important decisions one could ever face.

Which tattoo to to choose from? Should it be the Gadsden flag or the Aiken Wood Carvers Club Logo? To help make Matts decision easier, we superimposed both onto a prominent racing driver (female) who shall remain nameless in this blog, but has been in the news of late and in certain swimsuit editions of certain sports magazines.

Here are the two examples (minus the race car driver) Matt had to choose from: First, the Gadsden flag:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now even the most discerning of artist would agree this would be a lovely tattoo. Next the Aiken Wood Carvers Logo:

 

Aiken Wood Carvers Club Tatto

Simple elegance…. powerful. Kinda wows you doesn’t it? Imagine this image on your biceps, shoulder, or even a tramp stamp!

 Imagine.

Vic completed his boot  and has started on a shelf mouse as a new project.

We welcome, Don P. to the group. He will be starting on a letter opener to learn a little bbout wood grain and handling a knife.

Marge had a test for us to work on, but I think most people had seen it before as everyone passed it and were can’t be that smart… perhaps we cheated. 🙂

I host a website for the local carving club, the Aiken Wood Carvers Club at www.aikenwoodcarvers.org . We’d love for you to stop by for a visit.

 That’s all for now- “Cherrio”  – Jack

 

After the Meeting- Feb 24,2009

Well it is After the Meeting and we had a blast to say the least. Marge and I used the club to settle a minor dispute. She sent me the following email: (excuse the caps… she is not yelling… her lower case key is broken on her computer)…

“NOW AS YOU KNOW, I’M NOT A NORTHERNER, I’M FROM WYOMING.    AND IN WYOMING, A HAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU WEAR ON YOUR HEAD THAT HAS A BRIM COMPLETELY AROUND IT.   NOW A CAP, ONLY HAS A BILL, OR JUST HALF AROUND IT.    WANTED TO MAKE THAT COMPLETELY CLEAR……… WE ALWAYS CALLED THE HAT,    

Hat

 

 

 

 

Cowboy Hat

 A COWBOY HAT, NOT A COWBOY CAP.    NOW WHEN NED WEARS THE CAPS, LIKE BASEBALL, OR AIKEN WOODCARVERS, THAT IS A CAP.       BRING THIS UP AT THE MEETING,   WOULD LIKE TO GET THAT CLEARED UP.                TEE HEEE.       THAT WILL BE A GOOD TOPIC FOR DISCUSSION THIS TUESDAY, SINCE WE TALK ABOUT EVERYTHING FROM MOTOR OL;, ON UP.                                   M “

 

So me being from the south, where anything that one wears on the head is a hat took up the challenge. I checked with “Wikipedia” the online encyclopedia as the final authority on the subject on “headgear.” They said that, and I hate to admit it… Marge is correct. Generally speaking a hat has a rim all around it, a cap does not.

 

But we, the Aiken Wood Carvers Club, being an open-minded group set out to determine what type of head gear could we name. We had pictures of 14 different headgear from around the world and the carver who named the most… won a set of carving tools donated by www.WoodZone.com , your online carving store.

 

The winner after all of the dust settle was Chuck Spilman who named 7 of the 14. Chuck by the way, also showed up in his new wheels, a special access van. Less than 100 miles he is doing his part for the economic recovery. Heated leather seats for Mrs Spilman, assisted driving tools for Chuck. It even has hydraulic which raise and lower the van. But, don’t expect to see Chuck at any of those auto shows where they see whose car can bounce the highest.

 

One of the biggest surprises was Marvin. Marvin, beleive it or not is carving a flower. A Hibiscus, to be exact.

 

 

Vic has almost finished his boot and it is looking pretty good.

 

 

 Desmond is carving a piece of basswood from Woodzone and practicing saying,”Cheerio!” Everybody try…. say “Cheerio.!” Good.

 

 

 Matt is considering a tattoo of either the Aiken Wood Carvers logo or the Gadson Flag… I think our logo is more dramatic. Maybe an Aiken Wood Carvers poll is called for?

 

 

 Ned is Ned and Tommy trying to weather the hard economic times by carving scrap wood and found wood. Can’t afford to buy any.

 

 

The Duke was all quiet… not bothering anyone. Sat by Marge. Couldn’t keep her quiet, though. (He-he)

 

Missed you if you weren’t there!

 

 

 Also, I host a website for the local carving cub, the Aiken Wood Carvers Club at www.aikenwoodcarvers.org. We’d love for you to stop by.

That’s all for now…. “Cheerio!”-    Jack

 

After the meeting…

Well, it After the Meeting…  We met Tuesday.  Mark Fox was his usual insightful self, always a moment away to provide a clever commentary from the cobbler’s viewpoint. Due to his contact with Aiken’s people, he is a barometer of the community. Maybe next week his family won’t abandon him…

Poor Ray (Smitht), his little puppy was the victim of a saboteur. But due to the excellent detective of yours truly, I determined the perpetrator most likely to be Sonya. That’s my story.

Bill Brown will be undergoing surgery, keep Linda in your thoughts. Seriously, Bill hope all goes well.

It was good to see Des back… he had issues returning a purchase, though. Out of country drivers license. Is there a Hobby Lobby in Ontario to return an item?

Ned and Marge will be seperated at next weeks meeting. We will have assigned chairs for them so they don’t fight & fuss. Maybe John Hills wife could start an intervention class for them before things get out of hand between them. What do you say?

Till next time… Jack

Ethics in Wood Carving

I’ve considered the issue of carving ethics for some time, actually since the beginning of my carving career.  One question which comes up from time to time is: What are the ethics involved in regards to copying another carvers patterns or carving, photograph, etc?

First, let me begin by saying  “.. there is no new thing under the sun.. Ecclesiastes 1:9” . So if one ascribes to that baseline, everyone copies.

Most carving magazines and how-to books have patterns which the expectaion is that the user will copy and use tha pattern for personal use. Many other books limit the number of patterns one is authorized to make as up to ten patterns. The purpose of these limitations is to prevent an artist’s design from being mass produced or resold, the personal use clause. Genrally, one should have no issue placing coppied carvings in local /regional carving shows and offering them for sale to the local public.

Major shows such as the Ward,  Eastern Carolina Wildlife, Southeastern Wildlife Expo the artists work is expected to be his/her orginal work.

Shows such as our Artistry in Wood, places such as Charlotte, Orangeburg, Piedmont, Johnson City do not have such issues unless the artist claims the work to be their own design and it is discovered to be otherwise. Well, that would be unethical.

There is an interesting legal case ongoing right now. Artist Shepard Fairey created the now famous poster of the now President Barack Obama, based on a photo taken by an Associated Press, photographer. He admits to using the photograph, but says he transformed it into something entirely different than it originally.

Others photographs & paintings are considered intellectual property of the photographer/painter and may not be copied without the permission of the owner. That’s the law. You can use them for inspiration, just dont copy if you intend to offer for sale. Until next time…. Jack

After the meeting…

We just had our weekly meeting Tuesday evening and I must say it was a lively bunch. There were 3, count them… 3 new and not-so-new folks at the meeting. One gentleman, Harold Moore, was one of our  founding members back in the early 90’s. Also, Nichole and Vic joined our merry band of wood chippers.

While I worked with our new carvers on a boot and some wood carving basics, others did the usual things: wood burning, caricature carving, animal carving, ( not real animals, mind you- for all the PETA fans).

 Photo by Bill Brown

Marvin brought  another of his magnificent Hibiscus flowers similar to the one above.  He never ceases to amaze people with the realism he brings to his sculptures.

As is normal for our group we also engaged in a fair amount of “pre-carving.” Pre-carving for the uninformed is when one brings all of their tools to a meeting and doesn’t pick them up, but sits around and talks about starting carving all night.

Our website for the local carving cub, the Aiken Wood Carvers Club is www.aikenwoodcarvers.org. We’d love for you to stop by for a visit.

Until next time. Jack

Just completed wesite update…

Well it is Sunday afternoon and I have just completed an update of our carving website. I’ve added a couple of pages and a weather widget. Now you don’t have to look outside to see what the weather is… just look on your friendly Aiken Wood Carvers Club and there you are!

Bill Brown is the Featured carver with some nice carving pictures. We’ve added a sponsors page which is still very much a work in progress and a links page where you can find  many good places to go get info at you finger tips.

Forgive me for the spell check… haven’t run it yet. We will get into some philosophical stuff at a later date. Go by www.aikenwoodcarvers.org and take a look.

bye for now,

Jack

Hello world!

Welcome to  the launch of my Blog. Hopefully you will find some tips, thoughts and a sharing of ideas you will find informative & amusing at times. Stop by from time to time and leave a comment. I’ll also have a work in progress (WIP) posted as well soon.

Also, I host a website for the local carving cub, the Aiken Wood Carvers Club at www.aikenwoodcarvers.org. We’d love for you to stop by.