Yet Another Lettered Spoon

I can't believe it but this is my *third* posting in the past two days!  I have quite a backlog of carvings to show you and maybe now I can finally get around to getting them posted.

This spoon was ordered waaaay back in November when I was in a local Christmas Craft Show.  I was completely booked and  didn't get around to do anything about it until about the middle of January.  I called to reconfirm and the customer was still interested (always a good sign).  It was to be an anniversary gift for her in-laws.

I normally just use the first initials of the couple on my lettered love spoons -- notice that they *always* interlock -- and then try to come up with a handle shape that will give sufficient support the letters.  It's considered bad form if they break off.:-)

The initials and two hearts were trying to tell me that an "S" shape would work out pretty well.  I suddenly struck me that the couple's last name started with "S".  Well, that worked out nicely.  My first *three letter spoon*.

I met the customer about a week later and delivered the spoon.  Soon after I got home I received a phone call from her husband (the son of the final recipients) with a very nice thank you.  That was nice.

'Til next time...Keep makin' chips!

The Oak Plaque

We recently had another 20th anniversary here at work and I did another plaque to commemorate the event.  (The name is covered to protect the innocent, i.e., me!)

As usual, I spent a lot of time trying to come up with an idea. For me that is often the hardest part.

In this case, it wasn't too difficult.  The young lady's maiden name was "OCH", a German surname, which is pronounced "OAK".  When this was pointed out, the oak leaves were a natural.  And, since she has two kids, the plaque just demanded 2 acorns, as well.  So, there you are.

The carving is all from Basswood, ('natch) and the rear panel is cherry.

'Til next time...Keep makin' chips!

The Rainbow and the Dove

This is my carving for an upcoming mission trip by the Beulah Presbyterian Church (of Monroeville, PA) to "Katrina-land".  It will be presented as a gift to the homeowner that they work for down there.

I've done a number of pieces for this group for past mission trips, notably "the Hands of Hope" (see an earlier post.)

Since the inhabitants of Louisiana and Mississippi suffered from "a Flood", it seems that the choice of a dove and rainbow for the subject matter is the best one so far.





From inside to outside of the rainbow, the woods are:

1) Mahogany,
2) Paduak (I'm not sure that is spelled right),
3) hickory (man is *that* hard!),
4) Cherry

'Til next time...Keep makin' chips!

The Stay at Homes

Way back in Christmas 2008, I received a wonderful book of Norman Rockwell paintings from my son.   Rockwell is probably my favorite painter (although he would say "illustrator" because that was the nature of his training) of all times.  As you turn the pages, each painting is better than the one before it.

"The Stay at Homes" (to the left here) really got to me and I decided that I really  "needed" to carve my interpretation of the painting.

I soon realized that there was no "reasonable" way that I could explain the reason for the the wistful, seaward look of the old sea captain and his grandson.  (Remember, this is *my* interpretation so I can read *anything* I want to into the picture.)


Somehow I needed a way to tell the viewer what was going on in this piece and why they were looking at the *backsides* of these guys.  So I gave the grandson a old fashioned "spyglass" and his very own sailboat.  The dog is sitting down because I couldn't figure out how to carve such skinny little legs on the cross-grain.

Here's my carving to the left.  That is the view I intended and the way it sits in the curio cabinet. There is a small print of Rockwell's work right next to mine


Now before you ask, here is what does the other side looks like.

 I'm sorry that it has been so long between postings.  But, I have been carving up a storm of late and I have several more pieces to post. Stay tuned...



'Til next time...keep makin' chips.