Issue #31

Greetings!

The Old Log Cabin/Whillock

“Carve every day.” I have heard these words twice now in just the past few months, and I think I am starting to see why.

The first came from Vic Hood, an amazing award-winning carver and teacher from Fairview, Tennessee. It was his answer to me when I asked, “How do you create such wonderful work?”

The second was during my interview with Fred Primeau for his profile, “The Backwoods Sculptor,” in this issue. Fred creates fantastic spirit, wizard, and Native American carvings from anything he can find. His skill is outstanding and basically self-taught. I asked Fred, “How do you do it?” and his answer was, “Carve every day.”

I have started trying my best to “carve every day” and have definitely seen an improvement. It doesn’t matter if I am working on a specific project or not; often I am just exploring something new, such as a different way to carve the hands or a facial expression I’ve been wanting to try. My workbench is filled with many unfinished, hack-job, fire-pit-ready scraps of wood. However, each project had a specific purpose; each one helped me work on my skills and to get toward that goal of “carving every day.”

To help you carve every day, we have a huge assortment of articles in this jam-packed issue of Carving Magazine.

Try these challenging projects: An old log cabin relief, caricature knife blade covers, a hedgehog, a hobo, a chip-carved napkin holder, and a cute mouse figure.

Learn these new techniques: The four basic knife cuts, carving with drawknives, carving different mouth expressions, and making a knife rack.

Be fascinated by several new profiles and a regular feature: Fred Primeau profile, news from the CCA and International Woodcarvers Congress, and Susan Alexander’s very popular column, “Let’s Talk Carving.”

Happy Carving!
Chris

Hedgehog/Wheeler

Carving Projects:
The Old Log Cabin/Whillock
Caricature Blade Covers|Beane
The Hedgehog|Wheeler
Cool Spool Faces/Kirkpatrick
The Hobo
Chip-Carved Napkin Holder/MacKay
Peeking Mouse/Menke

Feature:
Let’s Talk Carving/Alexander

Carving Profiles:
The Backwoods Sculptor/Fred Primeau
News and Notes from the CCA
International Woodcarvers Congress

Carving Techniques:
Beginner’s Notebook: The Four Basic Knife Cuts
Carving with Drawknives/Rolfe
That’s a Mouthful/Burgdorf
Make a Handy Knife Rack/Sidler

Where to Get This Issue:
Stores |Back / Single Issues