Carving Shows

Here is a list of Carving Shows you might want to consider taking in.

The Desert Woodcarving Show and Sale in Mesa, Arizona February 14 & 15, 2015.
http://www.desertwoodcarvingshow.com

The Kitsap County Woodcarvers Show in the Bremerton area of Washington on
March 14 & 15, 2015. https://sites.google.com/site/kitsapcarvers/


I wouldn't mend taking in the Mesa show myself. I imagine the weather might be nicer there than here at that time of year.

Artistry in Wood Conclusion

Just a few parting shots from the Dayton Airport. The pilot wouldn't do a flyover of the Expo centre on the way out but trust me it's still there. And next year there will be another show and some nice people are carving some extraordinary things to amaze you. I'll sure try to go again. Been shovelling a lot of rain since I got home. Welcome back to the wet side.

Artistry in Wood Part 4 And the Winners Are!

This fine piece of wearable art caught my eye. It was not entered in the show but it's a good example of caricature carving.

Best of Show

Second Best of Show

Third Best of Show

Another Division Winner by Vic Hood

Division Winner

Rick Jensen. Need I say more? We made this man an Honorary Canadian in 2013.

A Christmas tree full of ornaments. The winning Raffle ticket gets them all. Over 170 ornaments and a tree topper.

So here are a few more pictures to look at. If you haven't started carving the winner for next years show you are probably behind a fair ways. Not all the names of the winners are listed. That is on purpose. I want you to go to the links that will be listed and check out all the official pictures and credits on the Dayton club website. In addition I will post a link to the rest of my pictures now that the worst of them are eliminated. I took pictures of booths and not specific carvings. So if you want a closer look at something you are going to have to go to the show. As for copying something it's all right to carve a replica if you are practicing a skill set but give credit to the originator of the idea. Best of all create your own idea and watch people copy you. Here are the links to the Dayton Artistry in Wood Competition Results Pictures http://www.daytoncarvers.com/competitions.html  Note the 2014 pictures may not be there for a while It takes a while to upload them and the club members are a little tired now that their huge show is done for 2014 so be patient.  In the mean time you can check out pictures of previous years winners.
The link to my personal pictures is https://www.flickr.com/photos/98346140@N02/sets/72157646968953803/   Just paste the web address into your browser and you should be able to get to the sites. If you need help ask a librarian. My pictures are not for commercial use and if you copy them be mindful how you use them. Enough said.

Artistry in Wood Part 3

Just a few of the sights at the show this year. I'm still editing a lot of the prints and even if I wanted to it would take forever to load them onto a blog so I will include a link in a later post to see the rest of my pictures. They may not have a caption and they sure don't include all there is to see but maybe just a little bit to help you appreciate the amazing size and variety in this show.

Artistry in Wood 2014 Part 2

After dessert I walked from the Pike Place Market area to the light rail station and caught a train to SeaTac airport and booked into a nearby hotel.

Chocolate Brownie

It was to early in the morning but I was up at 3 to get to the airport for 4  and the usual routine of checking bags getting a boarding pass and clearing security to wait for a plain for about an hour or so.The flight was bumpy and the landing in Chicago O'Hare was not the smoothest but we all got off the plane without help. A walk to the next gate and the connecting flight to Dayton. We were a little delayed but only by a few minutes as the plane was not quite ready. The weather was fine on this stretch and we arrived on time. I picked up a rental car and drove to my friends house for a social evening and a good sleep prior to my first day of helping with the show.

Dayton area sunrise

The sun rose and we were at the Expo centre by 9 AM to help wherever we could as there were still many things to be done. Preparations had been ongoing since Wednesday with help from the Dayton Carvers Guild and the Western Ohio Woodworkers (WOW).

Exhibitor Packages ready for pickup on Friday morning 

A view of the Bid table and the many booths ready to be occupied

Club Members work to prepare the Entry area table

A view towards the Raffle and Club tables 

We worked all day with a break for lunch and we never got out of the hall till around 8 PM but it was ready for the crowd at 10 AM in the morning. The judges had all the carvings in the judging area and  would work till about 1 AM in the morning before they went home. They were up for breakfast at 6 AM and the Photographer was already busy taking pictures of all the carvings and would not finish until just before the start of the show.

Most of the exhibitors start arriving in the afternoon on Friday and club members man the overhead doors and patrol the Expo centre to help with problems and make sure that all the exhibitors have the correct  number of tables and chairs and get into the right location. Some even get a hand with their  booth set up by generous club members. The Vendors who have a good deal more floor space and items for sale usually are the first to arrive and have a few helpers and friends that help them get their heavy loads in and set-up  for the Early start on Saturday morning.

 Many of the club members go home tired on Friday night and have to recharge for an early start the next two days. I know that when I left Dayton after this years show I was very tired as the work is physically demanding over a long stretch. It is rewarding in the life of club members. Many great friendships start and revolve around the show and club life. There are no nicer people than carvers.

A trip to Dayton Artistry in Wood 2014

I decided last year that I would make the trip to Artistry in Wood held November 8 & 9, 2014 in Dayton, Ohio. As the show neared and the time came to make the bookings I did question "why am I going? "but having had so much fun there before I decided to give it one more go. I was not to be disappointed. This year I decided to take the train from Bellingham to Seattle. Cost was $24.00. The trip was priceless. The views from the train were typical West Coast spectacular. There was abundant viewing of birds and boats. The window through which I took the pictures were a little dirty from the recent two inch two day rain shower whereby the trees of the Wet Coast get watered.

Coastal views

Ballard Locks Seattle

Walking from the Train station to Pike Place

Post Alley in the Pike Place Market area

Etta's Restaurant featured Salmon dish topped with Shitaki mushroom Relish

Carving Season!

Well at least on Wednesday's I can leave the mess that is my shop and go carve at the school with all the club members. Yes we are at it once again now that school is on and things are running again. See you next Wednesday at 6:30 PM till as late as 9. Also the Annual General Meeting is in two weeks. I sent out an email so check that if you are a member. If you are not and would like to become one than send me an email at radb@telus.net and I will give you a shout about where to go.

Carving

So now is the time to start planning what you are going to carve starting in September. Is it going to be a big project or a number of small ones. Are you going to finish up all those carvings you started so long ago and never did pick up again?

I think that some of the carvings I put down and did not start again were put down because I did not have the skills to accomplish what I had set out to do. As I keep taking courses I find that when I pick up some of the old unfinished carvings it is easier now to finish them, if in fact I have not made some real grave error and gone beyond where the piece can be saved.

If the carving can't be saved make something smaller out of it or use it to heat the shop and roast up some marshmallows with the Grandkids.

How Was Your Summer?

I hope you a all had a reasonable Summer. Only about a month left of school's out and than the more experienced people have the parks and holiday spots to themselves. Although in British Columbia the teachers are planning to extend the kids Summer break with continuing job action. Speaking of school, some our club members went down to Ellensburg, Washington for the Annual NorthWest Carving Academy. In total 8 of our club members went down to partake in various courses. To find out more about this school go to http://www.nwcarvingacademy.com  The website should answer all your questions. This is the first year that I actually completed a carving from start to finish. It took a little extra work but it was worth the effort. Next year there is a whole new slate of things to do. My plan is to take another course from CCA Instructor Bob Travis and this is the carving that he plans to teach.

There are other instructors that will be attending in various styles. So check out the website and and plan next years vacation early.

Dayton Ohio. Artistry in Wood.

  This a great show to take in. Have you thought about going?

The Latest Club News

Hi Rick,

Could you please forward this email to the club members.  It is the results of the Curling Rock competition at the Men’s Brier in Kamloops.  Also attached is pictures of the displays at the Curling Rink.  Hopefully some of the carvings will be at our show!   The Brier is on TSN and I’m sure they will show the displays.

Congratulations to Ken Smorang!!!  He won People’s Choice!

Ken put in two “rocks”.  The Canadian Loonie is a beautiful creation.  The Boston Cream one (looked good enough to eat!) isn’t in the pictures; it’s being glued again.  Reminder that carvings are not really toys!

My rocks didn’t win, but they are part of the display.  The green one with a face and a red handle (“Happy”) and the Curling Puck with Handle are my entries.  It was a fun challenge and I’m glad Kathy extended the deadline, so that I could participate!

Kamloops always supports our show, so it was nice that they got entries from our Club too.

Thanks,

Joany

In The News

For those of you that read your carving magazines as I do you may have noticed that one of our club members made the news in a good way. Check out the January February issue of Chip Chats and you will find an article on the 5th North West Carving Academy last summer. Page 25.  An artist at work.