It’s been a while since I posted last. Good things are happening. I’ve been carving feline inspired wood sculptures. I figured I had plenty of cats to model for me, so why not. One thing about sculpture, it really tests ones knowledge of a subject. I thought I knew cats ‘like the palm of my hand.’ That was until I started carving them. They have a grace to their build and stance that goes way beyond human aesthetics. There is a sublime dignity and suppleness the them that is surprisingly hard to convey. I’ve completed two carvings so far, and I can see from the results that I will need to do plenty more before I’m totally happy with the results. Not that the two I’ve done are bad carvings. Not at all. I’m very proud of them. But I have to admit, I haven’t captured the feline spirit with the depth and understanding that I’m aiming for. Not yet anyway.
I’ve also been working on my photography skills, Showing my work online and submitting to galleries both require good photographs. So I’m trying to get back into quality photography with my trusty Pentax K-70. For too long I’ve been just getting by with quick iPhone photos. I need to get out of that bad habit and start taking photography seriously again, One thing I’ve done in that direction, is add a turntable to my setup. This will allow me to take short videos of my carvings in the round. Instead of taking half a dozen photos of the carving in different positions, I can take a few photos, and one video,
Once again, I’m participating in the Dartmouth Hospital’s Annual Employee and Volunteer Art Show. My sculpture Dragon Twins is on display in the Hospital Rotunda at the Main Entrance. There is a large display case in the Rotunda, off to the right as you walk in. Dragon Twins will be on display through May and June.
I’ve begun taking workshops hosted by Plane Wellness, an excellent non profit that promotes woodworking as a mental health and wellbeing activity. My first workshop was for hand cutting Dovetails. Wow. That was a humbling experience. Just when I thought I was pretty experienced with woodworking techniques, I get a big dose of nope, not even close. My dovetails looked so bad, it was embarrassing as all get out. I’ll be practicing that for a while before I start featuring anything with dovetails here. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, I’m taking another workshop next week on hand sharpening. That should be informative and very helpful. Even after years of sharpening my carving tools, my sharpening skills are still a bit ‘hit or miss.’ I’m hoping a bit of feedback from the workshop instructor will help.
Well, that’s it for now. Thanks for reading my little woodcarving blog. I really appreciate it.
Jay Trefethen Woodcarving Blog 