Pets vs My Marketing Plan

The much loved pet is a very important segment of any artist's market yet one which I have all but ignored.  Lately I've been thinking about all of those dog and cat lovers who have browsed my carvings of bears and eagles only to leave empty handed... What have I been thinking?

People love their pets so I should selling carvings of pets!

This week I took one step closer to patching this hole in my marketing boat {plan} by carving my first house cat.  While it was easier than I'd expected, it did not come completely natural since I'm a dog-person.  It's well understood by sculptors that horse-people carve the best horses, fishermen carve the best fish, and so on.

So what if cats don't fly out of my saw?  I should be carving them anyway!  Carving dogs is second nature to me but I haven't been carving enough of them :(  And while I'm yelling at myself,,, how about those WSU Cougars & UW Huskies?  I live between these rival colleges yet have not carved either of their mascots.

Still, no matter what I carve for inventory, 50% of my sales are bears.

Eagle Update

It was a big adventure and it's FINALLY complete.  The size of this carving, and the size of the tools required to execute such a project, were hard on my old body.  Muscles ache, joints creak and pop when I move, and I have a couple of new calluses.

Today I will try to take it easy but it's going to be difficult because I can barely wait to start the next carving.

Old Tree, New Eagle...

A Sycamore tree in Pasco, WA had grown from a nice shade tree into a menacing giant next to the house and had to be removed this past spring.  Just before the tree was taken down, I went to consult on the possibility of carving the stump.  What a huge piece of wood!  The trunk was nine plus feet around and the first limbs were fifteen feet from the ground...

After discussing design and price, I marked the tree for the arborist and set my appointment to carve the stump in August.

Two days ago I started the job of releasing this huge eagle from his stump.  Using my Stihl ms-660 saw {the second largest saw Stihl currently makes} I removed pieces of wood weighing up to 2, 3, and even 400 pounds each!  The customer said they could feel the house shake when the biggest pieces crashed to the ground.

This photo was taken at the end of my second day of carving.  The beast is so large that when standing on the bench, I cannot see over the top of the wings.  It's an eagle but there are many details to add.  Feet are still quite crude, eyes and body feathers not yet carved, some small details around the beak are still missing, and an eagle next to the river needs a salmon.

Like most big carvings, this one taught me that I need another tool.  The long and wide ripping cuts required for the wings took way too long to complete.  Time to buy some skip tooth chains for the 660.

There's something about turtles...

I'm not sure what the deal is but, a lot of people like turtles.  And by "turtles" they may mean turtles or tortoises...  So I try to carve both in order to satisfy the most customers.

This first critter is my rendition of the African Sulcata. This large creature is a popular pet which is so well cared for that their carapace {upper shell} becomes distorted from eating too much protein.  No. Those cool pyramids are not the sign of a healthy Sulcata but they do attract a lot of oooohs and aaahs.

The Green Sea Turtle is a species I carve very often.   The simple design is recognized as a generic turtle which attracts many would be buyers.  More buyers, in fact, than the tortoise.  I suppose it's easier to get excited over a turtle which appears to fly through water than over the tortoise who skids about on his stomach.

In the near future, I plan to add other turtle species to my carving repertoire starting with the Leather Back.  Perhaps a snapper or a stylized design will catch people's attention?

Split Mountain Chainsaw Carving Festival

In July I will go to "hob-nob with my fellow wizards" at the 2nd Annual Split Mountain Chainsaw Carving Festival & Art Auction in Vernal, Utah.  This unusual festival gets local merchants to sponsor carvers and there is no competition.  Primary sponsors [paying for a carver] get a custom carved piece from their artist and other sponsors provide lodging, meals, etc...  It's all about the art and the auction.  

The Art Auction is of pieces submitted/donated by carvers to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.  Money from each piece is split 50/50 with the artist getting half and the other half being donated to Wounded Warrior. 

New Bench Project

Finished an unusual project this week :-)

A bench made from a wooden axle and steel wheels was brought to me for repair.  The original seat and back rest were narrow, badly weathered and heavily padded. The seat mounting brackets forced the seat to be more narrow than necessary and there were some other minor problems.

After I disassembled the bench I began modifying the brackets to allow for a wider seat. This required a little grinding and drilling a few holes. After some "paint and powder" the hardware was reassembled.

I selected some 1 1/2" x 20" Sycamore slabs to replace the old seat and back rest.  Some shaping, drawing and carving is all it took to customize the slabs per my customers' request.  Slabs were sealed then mounted and the bench is ready to be picked up.

Touchet Valley Poker Run

Been running behind schedule but I finally finished this eagle for the Touchet Valley Poker Run.  The poker run will start at Dayton Wine Works and Entertainment Patio in Dayton, WA. Registration is from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. Pre-registration is available. This chainsaw-carved American eagle will be awarded for the best hand.  Money raised by this event will be used to build a Children's Playground in Downtown Dayton.

This particular piece is carved from a basswood log.  Basswood is not common here and is a particularly good wood for carving with hand tools.  It should make a very nice prize for someone to take home and display.