This Saturday in Kennewick...

I will be giving a Chainsaw Carving Demonstration and will be selling my carvings in Kennewick!
Demo Carves at 10 am and 2 pm under the big tent :-) 

Date: Saturday -- July 14th, 2012
Time: 8 am -- 4 pm
Location: City Church -- 4624 W. 10th Ave. -- Kennewick, WA 99336 


New items will be available.  So new I don't have a photo yet but I'm calling them "Plank Art."
 :-) 

Timbers!

I've been working on this stump at Timbers Apartments in Richland, WA.  I lost 4 days to rain and wind so when good weather hit, I dove in to finish my "modern story pole."

In this photo, the pole's shadow areas have been burned and painted before adding 2 coats of boiled linseed oil.  The oil soaked into this dry wood very quickly which provide plenty of protection in the years to come.  When conditions are right, I will seal the surface with a single coat of Spar Urethane.

Just 40 feet away from the story pole is a second pine stump to be carved. My original plan for this stump was to carve several life size squirrels searching for acorns. The more I pondered the design, the more I though it would be over powered by the story pole.  So I upgraded the design.

Stump number 2 is now topped by a giant squirrel :) This big fellow is holding a very large acorn while looking at the acorn garden lamp to his left.

Today {Thursday} I made good progress on the squirrel in spite of being rained out by 1:00 p.m.

Rained out isn't "down and out"!  At home, under the shelter of my studio canopy, I carved a new bear which is ready for the detail stage of his creation.

Rain, rain go away!

I've got work to do! With all this rain and cooler weather it's a wonder anything gets done. Shown is my 90% completed "modern totem pole" at the Timbers Apartments in Richland, WA.  My doctor tells me to not use electric power tools in the rain so this one is progressing very slowly :(

Forty feet away is stump number 2.  Squirrels and acorns are planned for that stump.

Flat Fish Anyone?

While carving wood with a chainsaw is most often done "in the round", flat carvings have certain advantages. Since these flat carvings are made from slabs, they require less wood, are lighter weight, and they can be hung on your wall or fence. They're also both easier and cheaper to ship than in the round carvings.

Local furniture builder, Jody White, ordered a few of my salmon carvings to decorate the area around his swimming pool. Or so I thought...  By the time I delivered the order, Jody was busy building a new cedar fence for his garden. My salmon just happened to fit in the top panels of the new fence and now decorate the street view side of his own artwork :-)

Functional Art

How about something functional in a wood carving? Wood is a favorite material for furniture and furnishings so why not carve those? Or turn carvings into those items?

This little 'sign bear' was a commissioned project.  As occasionally happens, he was just too cute to be left as a simple bear... The client liked my suggestion to upgrade him to a lamp and as soon as we agreed on the price increase, I went to work.

"Lamping" a bear is a fairly simple task thanks to the do-it-yourself lamp kits available from hardware stores. Routing the lamp cord through the relief kerf eliminates the need for drilling a hole the entire length.  Pretty much all that's required is to carve a flat surface for the lamp base, drill the proper sized hole to join with the kerf, them assemble according to instructions.

For actual furniture, Big Wood is required!

I make multiple styles of carved benches and chairs but the full benches {those with a back to lean against} are the most popular.

These benches are heavy both in weight and "wow factor". They can be disassembled for moving {hand truck required} and, like all wooden products require regular maintenance if kept out doors.

Roman soldiers are said to have used the Keyed Chair.

This ancient design is probably the first portable lawn chair used by mankind. While heavier than an aluminum tube  & webbing chaise, these are very durable and the smaller version is great for fishing or sitting around the campfire.

The design is simple and very effective. Like your chaise lounger, it folds compactly for convenient storage.

Show Time in Kennewick this weekend.

Chainsaw carving demo and general artistic mayhem are happening Saturday and Sunday at Tri-Tech on the corner of Kellogg and Metaline streets in Kennewick, WA.  Chainsaw carving will be 'ongoing' throughout the weekend from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.  Carvings and sculptures will be offered for sale at the "Big Top" {see photo} as well as indoors.

This "chair" will be on display. 

Admission to the juried art show is $3 which gives you access to all the competition pieces, a chance to vote for Peoples Choice award, and all the vendors selling books, tools and materials for wood carving and pyrography. I think there will be a workshop or two as well but don't quote me on that...

I'll have lots of bears as well as turtles, cowboy boots and other door stops for sale. My biggest piece is a huge bench featuring mirrored bears priced at $3,000.  I accept Cash, credit cards, gold, silver, guns, or ammo by the case for payment.

Battery Powered Chainsaw?

Yep. Thanks to Lithium-Ion battery technology, we have entered the age of battery powered chainsaws.

My first thought, when hearing of this new technological leap, was "Why?" Gasoline powered saws deliver plenty of power and can be refueled in only a minute, and they're highly portable. Hydraulic powered saws offer power, never run out of power, are less loud than gasoline saws and they emit no exhaust fumes...

What advantage could a battery offer?  Hard to imagine...

Well,,, today I received a loaner Stihl MSA 160 C-BQ STIHL Lithium-Ion Chain Saw from my local Stihl dealer.  Over the next 2 weeks I intend test, use, learn about and report on this new piece of equipment.  I'll be carving logs into art with battery power!  :-)

Video, thanks to a GoPro Hero, will be part of my review / report so expect a few links to YouTube in my next few posts.