Photoshop elements

O boy, have I been slack, it has been 12 months since my last post.
Two or three carvings started but still on the bench, one commission piece finished which I was very pleased with.
The piece was in relief of tree leaves, flowers and birds in a chinese flavour.It is a replacement panel in a antic chinese bed. Red Cedar  55 cm x 32 cm. Very hard to take a detailed photo still in the raw state. It is off now to have the finished colours applied. Will  manage a nice photo when finished.

My slow carving has been due to a little ill health, holidays and arthritis creeping into the fingers.

I have spent some time playing with Photoshop elements and enjoying it very much. Takes some time to wrap my head around the system.
Here are two different effects applied to the same photo, A shot of the local jetty here where I live.
One is coloured sketch and the other a 3D jigsaw effect.

 

Regards Terry

 

Lady in relief

Hi,

In May, I attended a Don Powel workshop hosted by the Bribie Island Arts centre.

If anyone has the opportunity to attend a carving workshop, grab it with both hands. The experience is worth it weight in gold.

It was a relief carving workshop and I chose a female head.
My piece is in Jelutong,  230mm x 190mm x 50mm thick.
Finished with four coats of Danish oil and a smear of Traditional wax.

I enjoyed this piece, carved over two days, and am very happy with the result.

Regards

Terry

GREENMAN

                                             

                                             GREENMAN

 

This is my second Greenman in this style.

I like the nice flowing lines , and it is a satisfying piece to carve.

Juletong is the timber used, a very bland looking wood but so, so easy to carve. The piece is 250 mm x 230 mm x 50 mm deep. Finished with 5 coats of  Minwax "wipe on poly"

 

                  

COURT JESTER

Just finished a new carving  so opened  the blog to record its history.
If I do not take photos and record details, I even forget what timber it is let alone other
details.
The Court Jester, my take on a Ian Norbury piece.This is Mr. Norbury's first carving
in his new downloadable instruction lessons. I downloaded the first 5 lessons of a total of 15 lessons in the series.About AU$ 1.60 per lesson. Well worth it for any new carvers out there.

Anyway, my jester is in Queensland Maple, 240 mm high,140 mm wide and 110 mm deep.
It is finished with Minwax wipe on poly, 5 coats, and a little wax to finish off.

Hope you like him

Regards

Terry

JOHN HOWARD

                                                     JOHN HOWARD

This is my version of John Howard, Australian Prime Minister 1996 to 2007.

The carving is jelutong, 180 mm high, and finished with wipe on poly

PAUL KEATING

Here is the next in the series.
Paul Keating,Prime Minister of Australia
1991- 1996

Whits Beech  approx 180 mm high. Finished  with Danish oil,and sealed with shellac and wax.

                                                      

JOHN GORTON

To continue the series of Prime Ministers, it is John Gorton's turn this time.
Mr Gorton was Prime Minister in the period of 1968 to 1971.

White Beech,190 mm, finished with danish oil and sealed with shellac and wax.
I hope you enjoy.

Regards Terry

             

KEVIN RUDD

       

                                                         Kevin Rudd

June is here and so is winter. It has been very cold and wet the last few days.

I have completed three more in my Prime Minister series, and I will show them separately.

The first is Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia 2007- 2010.  The carving is  200 mm high in Jelutong and finished with danish oil,sealed with white shellac and wax. The glasses were made with thin handy wire, soldered and painted. A little trick I picked up from the Out West Carving blog .

Regards, Terry

                                        

                                                            

JULIA,

Well I finally bit the bullet, I have always had a wish to be able to carve a likeness of someone.
I have tried in the past with no success, but decided to try again. This time I studied the form first
instead of going gang ho and in to it.

This is my interpretation of our Prime Minister Julia Gillard, The bust is in white beech approx 180 mm high and finished with danish oil, white shellac anh polish.

I think this time I have reached a likeness which I think is close.

Hope you  can see her as well.

Apologies for my bad photo's, they always appear washed out.

Regards
Terry

SKULL

It's been a while since my last post. I seem to keep being side tracked into home duties, like lawn and garden or it is to hot or to cold for the shed.
Anyway this piece was started last October and now finished apart for the final mounting.
The Skull is White Beech finished with danish oil,white shellac and wax. 250 mm high.

A couple more to show. This girl was crafted from  Chillian Myrtle some time back and has just been

mounted. She is 350mm high and finished in arbour oil and wax.

One more, this piece stems from a friend showing me a wall mask that was made out of leather and decided it would be a nice exercise in wood. The timber is camphor laurel 300mm X 220mm finished with danish oil,shellac and wax. Camphor is ready available in my area (cheap) and carves very well

That is all for now, but I have been quite taken with some love spoons I have seen lately and would like to investigate the challenge they seem to be. Boy there are some smart carvers out there who produce these spoons.

Until next time , happy carving

Terry

Green Man

This bloke has been a while in the carving stage, but at last he is here.
Camphor laurel 250 x 150 x 50 mm and this is the first carving that I have framed.
 The frame also is camphor laurel with a light wood stain.
The finish is white shellac and wax.

Terry

Egyptian Gods

I am in the process of carving a series of ' egyptian gods" to be buried in a new dig being put together at the Abbey museum. Here is a view of the first 5 carvings to be buried in the sand this week.
All in camphor laurel about 180 to 200 mm in length.
The anamils are finished in boiled linseed oil and the mummy in shellac.

The Devil

This is my take on a photo I found in one of  Ian Norbury's books Carving Facial Expressions (1997).

My guy is in camphor laurel 280mm x 220mm x 100mm and finished with shellac and wax.
Really enjoyed working on this piece (as I do with all carving) and I seem to have moved into this type of wall mask carving due to the availability  of the thickness of timber that I have access to. It is very hard to source large blocks for in-the-round carving.

This guy will now go to a gallery for display and hopefully sale.

Happy Carving,
Terry

Gargoyle

Hi,
This is my copy of a Don powell carving, that appeared in a issue of "Australian wood Review".
Don stated that he based his carving on a gargoyle from the Boboli Gardens in Florence.
For practice, I first carved a small version 120 mm high for the top of a walking staff, this gave me a feel for the subject. My gargoyle is in camphor laurel 300 mm high by 250 mm wide. I really like the color in this timber to high light the features of the gargoyle. The finish is my normal four stage process. Oil to pop the grain followed by a shellac sealer. Finished with a light coat of Crystal Clear and wax.
I really enjoyed carving this piece, I hope you like him .

Regards till next time

Terry

The month of May

Finaly have found some time to post my effort for May. I still have a walking staff under the knife to be finished and will show latter. My carving has slowed down some what after the burst after Xmas.
Anyway this wall mask is my take on a medival Foot Soldier.
The timber is camphor laurel 230 mm x 180 mm X 100 mm deep.
Not overly happy with the way the beard turned out,  seem to have lost focus there. if any one has a opinion on the beard, then please comment with some advice for me.
The piece was finished with oil to pop the grain then sealed. The final coats are a spray of Crystal Clear Acrylic and wax.



happy carving everone,
Regards

Terry

Walking staffs

Good morning and happy easter.
Our local medival festival is coming up in July and thought it was time  to start putting together some items to sell. First up are a few walking staffs. three of the heads are White Beech and the fourth is Spanish Cedar. The shafts are 25mm Australian hardwood.

Regards
Terry

Chess Set

This is my take on the LEWS CHESS SET,this set is held in, and can be viewed at http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/t/the_lewis_chessmen.aspx

This set was made  over 8 months between November 2008 and  June 2009 , but not carving full time, I had lots of rests periods. This piece was made with a fair bit passion and was donated to the Abbey Museum in Caboolture Queensland. http://www.abbeymuseum.asn.au/vi_history.htm

Very proud of this carving, and put it out to you people to be judged. Your comments are welcome.

The board is Black bean and Silver Ash 730 mm square and each square  is 84 mm

The chess pieces are White beech and Chillean Myrtle. The kings are 155 mm high.

QUEENS

KNIGHT

ROOK

BISHOP

PAWN

Happy Carving,

Terry

Genghis khan

I came across a photo of a bronze plaque of Genghis Khan in a back issue of National Geographic.
The face appealed to me with  such strong character  showing through  that I wanted to try my version of this man of history.
My piece is from White Beech, my number 1 carving timber, and is 240 mm x 200 mm x 90 mm deep.
Finished with Organoil Danish oil and Ubueat wax.

Very much enjoyed this carving and I am happy with the finished result.

Until next time ,happy carving,

Terry

January Carvings

After the xmas and new year break ,I felt the need to have a carving fix.
Funny how some things can affect a person, but it is out of the system now and I can relax once again.

Enjoyed all three carvings but I do like carving Greenmen.

Wall mask in spanish Cedar, finished with danish oil. 250 mm high.

Wall mask in camphor laurel,finish danish oil. 250 mm high.

Greenman in camphor laurel, finish danish oil. 230 mm dia.

Regards,

Terry

Quick Update

The church statue is not looking very promising. Although I have been keeping the piece covered with wet rags and inside a plastic bag, the cracks are still opening up. When I open up in the morning all the cracks are closed up but by end of day they are back and big. Where I have carved deep, between the chin and the folded hands on her chest I thought that I had carved through the cracks,but that section is now cracking also. Will continue with the roughing out a little longer for the practice.

I have been side tracked from the statue over the last week with other bits and pieces to be done. The museum runs a archaeological dig for school kids and some of the artifacts needed repair or replacing before the start of the new school year which is only a couple of weeks away. The wooden artifact do take some damage over the year the kids being a bit rough with things and the wooden artifacts suffering damage from being buried in damp sand all the time. It is a great learning curve for children to take part in a organized dig with dust pan and brush ,a sieve and having to record what ever they find in the correct way.

The weather today is great so it is a great day to carve, the same as every other day.

Happy Carving,
Terry