I am not a super fan of Bob Dylan, but a line from one of his songs has always summed it up for me: " He not busy being born is busy dying." Grow, change, keep being born.
Smooth
Well, it wasn’t easy
Jay Hanna ends his handy book on Marine carving with a story. It seems that he was interested in how a talented shipbuilder had accomplished a particularly masterful bit of carving. The old gentleman reflected for a while and then commented: well, it wasn't easy.That's the story behind this hoop tray portrait ordered by a …
Taking Care Of Business
The Maine Boatbuilders Show was an unusual event. They held the show on the first full weekend of spring in the old Portland Company complex on Fore St. in Portland, Maine. The show was funky. The overhead cranes in the big bays still loomed over your head. The cranes were reminders that this space had …
Acorns to Oaks
We all want to be instant experts. One of my sensei describes this in terms of the training montages that are standard fare in martial arts movies; the neophyte progresses from clumsy beginner to skilled pro in thirty seconds of cinematic snapshots. The rest of us suffer from dissatisfaction and disappointment from being less than optimal for much longer.
Cherry – the versatile wood
For me cherry is almost the perfect wood.
A Boat Portrait Carved In Wood
Much of my business in the past 27 years or so has been portraits of ships and boats. It all began at a crafts show at New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee. I had been making trays out of mast hoops for some time. I carved a variety of themes including an elegant Compass Rose design I …
