---- Chris Pye: WOODCARVING - NEWSLETTER ---- December 2001 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com "Dedicated to the teaching, learning and love of woodcarving" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello Everyone! Please forward this newsletter to a woodcarving friend, and anyone else you think might be interested. Thanks! This is an opt-in newsletter and you should only be receiving it because you requested it from the website, or were sent it by a friend. Subscribe or Unsubscribe easily on the home page here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/index.html or using the link at the end of the newsletter. ****Back issues here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/intro/pastnews.html ==================================== 1. Slipstones - December 2001 2. Website Notes 1) New Inspiration 2) Green Men Pages 3) Teaching - UK 2002 4) Teaching - USA 2002 3. Article: 'Hunter-Gatherers of Inspiration' 4. Quick Carving Questions 1) Panels & Warping? 2) Wood Sources? 3) Gino Masero Biography? 4) Future Writing 5) How long? 6) Learning to Carve, at 73? 5. Follow Ups: Honing Paste Apple & Pearwood Seasoning 6. Carving Cuts from Maine 2001 - V __________________________________________ 1. SLIPSTONES - December 2001 __________________________________________ Have you got a nagging woodcarving question? Something you are not clear on, or for which you need a little advice? Slipstones is like an invitation to my workshop where I share my experience of over 25 years as a professional woodcarver and offer advice and support, along with that of other subscribers. So, join me! And get your FREE copy of '101 Master Woodcarving Secrets', exclusive to subscribers. Full details of your interactive woodcarving journal: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/slipstones.html Back issues of Slipstones now available without subscribing. THIS MONTH: *** A fine contribution from a subscriber about his - Wait for it! - JIG THAT GUARANTEES A FLAT BEVEL ON YOUR CARVING TOOLS! Simple, inexpensive, easy to construct - if you have problems maintaining a flat bevel, this might be your answer! Also a power hone for inside bevels that I hadn't come across before. *** NETSUKE & CARVING SMALL - Notes on this fascinating art form; thoughts and advice on carving at a size which strains the eyesight... [Quick Aside! Here's a website worth visiting, whether you are interested in Netsuke or not - some beautiful carved work in the contemporary galley: Michael Spindel: http://www.spindel.com/] *** SPRING CLAMPS. No workshop should be without them! What, YOURS is without them? No excuses: they are easy to make and cost nothing (unless your source complains...). *** SKEW CHISEL PROBLEM. What's the point? Find out in Slipstones! *** Carving Notes from Maine V Something I (me, myself) learned - see section 6 below. *** And much more, including 'Lines of Light' and Carving Tips. Have you downloaded your FREE sample edition of Slipstones? Find it here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/slipstones.html __________________________________________ 2. WEBSITE NOTES __________________________________________ 1) New Inspiration 2) Green Men Pages 3) Teaching - UK 2002 4) Teaching - USA 2002 ****** 1) NEW INSPIRATION A portrait of Richard II from a misericord in the Parish Church of St. Laurence, Ludlow, Shropshire, UK. Many misericords are simple and humorous. This one is a seriously fine piece of carving. Here it is: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/gallery/g_inspiration.html ****** 2) GREEN MEN PAGES We now have 6 contributions - many thanks! http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/greenman/gm_index.html Care to send in your own work? Green Men, Grotesques and Gargoyles - there's a lot of you out there! Suggestions, links etc also welcome of course. ****** 3) TEACHING - UK 2002 I have now put up dates for woodcarving classes next year: Sat 23 Feb - Sun 24 Feb: Weekend Tutorial Sat 16 Mar - Sun 17 Mar: Weekend Tutorial Tue 22 Apr - Thu 26 Apr: Decorative Carving Mon 20 May - Fri 24 May: Relief Carving Sat 1 Jun - Sun 2 Jun: Weekend Tutorial Mon 16 Sep - Fri 20 Sep: Letter Carving Sat 12 Oct - Sun 13 Oct: Weekend Tutorial Full details, facilities, accommodation etc: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/tuition/t_classesUK.html ****** 4) TEACHING - USA 2002 I am pleased to say that I have been invited back to instruct three, week-long woodcarving classes at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine, USA. June 24 - 28 Letter Carving July 1 - 5 Relief Carving July 8 - 12 Carving Tutorial This widely respected school is known for its high quality of instructors and the facility within which students can learn and experience furniture-related skills. The new course listings should be officially posted to the website in mid-December. http://www.woodschool.org/ You can sign up for a brochure that gets mailed during the last week of that month. Registration begins on 2nd January 2002. __________________________________________ 3. ARTICLE: 'Hunter-Gatherers of Inspiration' by Chris Pye __________________________________________ It was an emailed comment from another woodcarver that got me thinking: "...but I'm a little short on inspiration right now. I just can't seem to work out what I am trying to get to." I have heard this so many times before from students who are otherwise quite capable carvers. They just don't know what to carve next - ever! In my somewhat fertile imagination I see them as standing somewhat frozen and zombie-like at a British bus stop, quietly getting wet and depressed in the rain. Occasionally, and hopefully, they look up the road for the Bus of Inspiration. When it doesn't arrive they turn their eyes to the heavens for the next best, and most likely, thing: a lightning strike... OK, bit hard on our public transport (and these students) perhaps, but it does seem to me a sort of trapped state to be in. Sometimes it lasts a long time. It's true, of course: lightning DOES strike, now and then. Stand still long enough in the right place and you might get hit. And with sparks of inspiration comes we are galvanised into action! Excuse the abundance of images here but do you know the Chinese folk tale about a hunter who was creeping about the woods in search of a hare? Suddenly one scampered through the undergrowth, struck the tree next to him and fell down dead at his feet. Fantastic! What a gift - all he had to do was pick it up! He took his astounding 'catch' home in triumph and, next day, waited by the same tree. He waited by that same tree for more hares to do the same thing for years and years. In fact, he waited for the rest of his life... I think this tale is a good analogy for how many of us view and respond to inspiration; I see the hunter by the tree in a similar bleak posture to my imagined student waiting at the bus stop. The mistake is thinking that inspiration comes from 'out there', like lightning and hares, or buses even. But there is no 'out there'. Inspiration comes from within. How do I know? Well, simply that when I have an idea you might see my eyes light up, but YOU can't know what flash I've had until I tell you. Yes, lightning DOES strike and rabbits DO run into trees, but my experience is that if you want to be continually inspired, you need to take a much more active approach. You need to create the conditions under which inspiration, creativity, arises. Or to continue the analogy, rather than wait by the tree you have to be far more the hunter-gatherer: Rather than wait for inspiration to strike, you must go out and catch it. Rather than just look at every bush for berries, grow them. I'll tell you one good way to do this, to encourage inspiration and creativity, and it's quite simple: * Get yourself three books to catch your prey: a scrapbook, a sketchbook and a notebook (you can combine them). * Look, look, look! At everything and anything that interests you: life; books, magazines; other carvings, sculpture. Soak it up. * Make notes, sketch, stick in - catch what interests you in the nets of your books. You'll soon have a repository of ideas. * Go to these books now and them, mull and turn the contents over; make more notes and sketches. The deepest part of your mind will start working with all these things that interest you and you'll find a flow of ideas start coming, seemingly out of the blue. Inspired! * Lastly, don't wait until you have finished a carving before looking for another idea. As an extension of this, I always have several carvings on the go: one starting, one ending, one in the middle so that there is a constant flow of ideas and work. That's it. If you do this properly you'll soon have far too many ideas and inspirations for a lifetime. Don't wait- start now! Remember: inspiration doesn't come from 'out there'. Don't wait by trees and bus stops, hoping to be lucky! You may be. But your more likely to find inspiration - and have more fun - hunter-gathering. __________________________________________ 4. QUICK CARVING QUESTIONS __________________________________________ **** QUESTION 1: PANELS & WARPING **** "What keeps a large relief panel from warping or at least minimizing the warpage? I'm referring to panels that are used for cabinet and similar doors: is it possible to simply mount the panel without framing it, as a raised panel door?" **** ANSWER **** You need to understand how wood shrinks in relation to its position in a tree. The outside of a tree (the porous sapwood) is wetter than the centre (which is more skeletal - heartwood). So the 'outside' will lose more water than the 'inside'; it will shrink more as it dries out. It is this differential shrinking that causes warping. You'll need to 'read' your boards (by looking at the end) in relation to these facts and place them so that the warping of one compensates for the warping of the next. It is actually easier to understand than it sounds and quite logical. My book Woodcarving Tools Materials & Equipment http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/writing/w_bk1.html has a chapter on it and it's best if you have a look there as I really need to draw a few trees to illustrate my points! When you carve a panel you have an additional problem in that the lumps of wood left in the carving can cause tension and warping over and above anything that arises from seasoning. So a flat panel may well warp after carving for several reasons. It's always best to make your doors as a loose frame - so the panel can move - and this way you can be sure they always will close and fit properly independently of what the panel does. Frames can be nice design elements too. =================================== **** QUESTION 2: WOOD SOURCES **** "I am having a very difficult time finding Limewood." **** ANSWER **** If you live in the USA I cannot help you I'm afraid but in the UK, check out Woodcarving magazine and the yellow pages for sources of Limewood, also local carving groups and other carvers. Jelutong is a good alternative wood if the result is to be painted. Anyone with sources to pass on? =================================== **** QUESTION 3: GINO MASERO BIOGRAPHY? **** "I read in 'Elements of Woodcarving' that Gino Masero wrote an autobiography. Is this in print? " **** ANSWER **** Unfortunately it still remains a manuscript. Gino's nephew was working on something, so it is not impossible there may be a biography, but I doubt we will see it. Publishers work from sales backwards these days and it wouldn't have the selling. That's why I wrote an appreciation in 'Elements'; there might never be anything else. I'll be the first with an order though! =================================== **** QUESTION 4: FUTURE WRITING **** "In your site you mention future writings. Have you completed many of the titles that you mentioned? I'm particularly interested in mouldings but the other titles look good also." **** ANSWER **** No, my apologies - I need to update that section. I am coming to the conclusion I cannot manage to do half the things I want, just through sheer lack of time! I shouldn't really leave the pages on the website suggesting imminence - as it seemed at the time when I wrote them. I have had so little response to the idea of manuals I have turned my attention to videos. I'd appreciate feedback on this idea. Good luck with the mouldings - they are mostly exact and repeat setting in by matching. =================================== **** QUESTION 5: HOW LONG? **** "Tell me, if it's possible, how long it takes to be an excellent woodcarver." **** ANSWER **** How long is a piece of string? =================================== **** QUESTION 5: LEARNING TO CARVE **** "I am having trouble trying to learn how to carve in the round. I've bought a lot of books but they all for the advanced or intermediate carvers and nothing seems to work for me. Is it because of my age, 73, or I don't have the talent to carve wood? I have sharp knives, I asked a few carvers in my area for help, the answer I received was: too busy with their own projects. Can you help with your good advice again, on what kind of books I can read?" **** ANSWER **** 73 is no age at all! I have many students starting then. True you might never achieve what you could if you had started at 20 but you can still have a lot of fun and be satisfied with your achievements. Since you like knives - and I do too - why not think in terms of 'whittling' (which is carving under another name and mostly in the round) and less 'woodcarving'. Then, immediately, there is loads of help to be had from books by, say, E.J.Tangermann ('Whittling and Woodcarving') and others who start at the beginning. I have a great old book by Ben Hunt called the 'Whittling Book' - it's probably out of print but worth hunting down. You can do the work on a tray, sitting down and with just a few sharp knives. Choose a softish wood - go back to the carvers and beg a bit of Limewood or Jelutong. Once you have a few techniques the world is your oyster. _______________________________________ 5. FOLLOW UPs Many thanks for these comments from newsletter readers _______________________________________ ***** HONING/STROP PASTE 1. AUTOSOL Keith Randich writes: In regards to the question about strop paste: Autosol is the best I've used. It cuts quicker than any of the honing pastes I've purchased from American woodworking or woodcarving catalogs. The only problem is that it isn't available in the US. I got mine from a woodcarving friend that visited the UK. 2. BOARDS, NOT LEATHER. Tom W. Horton writes: I have been using a dark green compound (I have forgotten the chemical name) for years. The point I want to make thought is that I ADD THE HONING COMPOUND STRAIGHT ONTO A BASSWOOD BOARD - without the leather. I hone my carving tools about every 5 to 10 minutes when carving or whenever they don't seem as sharp as they should be. Unless I ding or chip an edge, I don't usually re-sharpen them on a stone or wheel. I was put onto the idea of using a board by Dave Hardy, an excellent carver and woodturner. He maintains that using a leather strop rolls (rounds) the bevel and I see rolled bevels among my carving club members now I know what I am looking for. A number use very thin leather, but I still see a curve in their bevels. Dave uses a white compound. I have tried red, brown, white and green. Honestly, I cannot tell the difference. I just happen to own a very large block of the green. I have recently switched to a piece of birch plywood and am trying diamond paste (1-2 microns). *** SEASONING APPLE AND PEARWOOD. Lew Ward writes: Apple and pearwood are difficult to cure. Rules to follow: 1. Box out the heartwood - at least 1 and 1/2 inches away from the heart on all sides. 2. Cut off the bark edge/side. 3. Coat ends with hot paraffin wax and heat the end surface before you apply wax. I use a propane torch with a wide tip or the gas stove in the kitchen. This dries the surface and allows better penetration. _______________________________________ 6. CARVING CUTS FROM MAINE - V _______________________________________ Started October 01 - Newsletter back issues here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/intro/pastnews.html While teaching at the outstanding Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport, Maine, USA this summer, I asked carving students to write briefly down "3 Things I've Learned about Woodcarving" - important insights: practical, personal and technical - for this newsletter. Thanks very much to all contributors! Over the next few months I'll be sharing their discoveries. I'll be commenting and adding thoughts in this month's Slipstones: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/slipstones.html Hey, I asked myself the same 3 questions! Here's the first of my own discoveries: --------------------------------------- "I only do one of two things: either I take wood off, or I leave it alone." That's it?! Excuse me, why is this so profound? Well, you'll have to subscribe to Slipstones to find out why, after 26 years of carving, this hit me as an incredible insight with many offshoots and consequences. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's it for this month. I hope you have found this newsletter interesting and useful. Once more: joy and success in your carving! Chris Pye ----------------------------------- PS: Here's another one to think about at the bench: "The only answer to doubt is action." Thomas Carlyle Copyright (c) Chris Pye 2001 Chris@woodcarver.force9.co.uk ----------------------------------- Chris Pye: Woodcarving Newsletter is listed in the EzinesPlus directory of newsletters and ezines. http://ezinesplus.com ----------------------------------- ===========================================