I’ve been a shop recluse recently. The sound of the fan running, the scroll saw, and the mallet hitting the back of the gouge handle are all you hear. Recently, it’s been like the days before the pandemic—several projects in process, a few commissions, and the prospects of further work. It’s good.
The cats, Sabrina and Marcus, insist that all that noise disturbs the visitors to their bird feeder. They are staunch defenders of the birds’ right to eat whenever they want. It’s creating interference with their kitty cat TV. But it seems to me that the chickadees visit just as often. One flew into the shop the other day to see what all the racket was about. I barely noticed. When there is carving to do, I concentrate hard enough that I can lose track of time and the environment.
The three-inch Sloop
A friend wanted another sign with a carving on top of the small sloops his shop builds. I do lots of signs with boats on them, and wanted to make them a bit more independent of the background. This involved coming up with a method for reinforcing the structure. Signs rest their backs on a wall so it had to be flush. The result was pleasing and seems strong:
The finished sign shows the three-inch-long sloop sailing on a textured sea. You don’t see the mortice that holds the sloop onto the signboard. The sea covers that. The mast and sails are carved and separate from the body of the sloop. The reinforcement on the back is securely glued in place. I wouldn’t dare try this method if the carving were free-standing, but being that it will be mounted, it offers a much more realistic impression of a sloop sailing in a brisk breeze.
Several other jobs are in the shop at the same time, so I have plenty to occupy me.
The lead photo is a montage of shots from an Antonio Jacobson portrait of the Clippership Dreadnought. It’s my next big project, and the carving blank is already ready to go as soon as the workbench is clear enough to get carving. This is not a commission. It is an experiment. It was a studied “executive decision” to tackle this project. The Dreadnought is “local. ” She was built in Newburyport in the 1880s, and the nearby Maritime museum happened to have the Jacobson portrait on display. Able to gather enough detail, I am preparing to do some experimental carving on how I render the sails and the perspective of the hull inclined towards the viewer. This is my second attempt at this project. Not all experiments are successful. But there is no progress without a degree of risk.
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