Being a maritime carver means you never know it all. The sea always provides surprises.
Kingfisher
This is one of my first ship portraits. Like many firsts, there are some things to like and others to hate. Let's start with a descrcripion of what is going on in the carving: The hull and background are on a piece of scrap white pine. The sails and cabinwork are cherry. And the spars …
The Fair Curve – closing your eyes to see
Fair curves are important to ship & boat builders, carvers, furniture makers, and traditional sailmakers. The Oxford English Dictionary describes a fair curve as "a smooth curve; especially (Nautical) one in the body of a ship." That works out well until you put practitioners of different crafts together on a stage and ask them to …
Continue reading "The Fair Curve – closing your eyes to see"
Procrastination
Daily writing promptWhat have you been putting off doing? Why?View all responses Let's not be too quick to dismiss procrastination. It can actually serve a useful purpose. I once learned from a friend in historic preservation that procrastination was one of his most valuable tools in saving landmark structures from demolition. By slowing, distracting, and …
A Painting?
The picture above is of my most recent work - "Reefing Before the Blow." Yesterday was my first opportunity to display it for the public. There was a lot of interest in it, so I don't think it will be hanging on my wall for too long. But something interesting was going on with the …
Whoops!
I play around with carving elements on the computer before I begin carving. But in this case, I wanted to play with the elements in the shop. I had run across some mid-19th-century sailors' dioramas online and wanted to experiment further with how they brought elements together. The best way to do that was more …
Step this way, Step this way!
I once imagined setting up a shop on a waterfront and selling the carvings that I created. Then, reality intervened when I considered the actual costs versus the take minus the overhead. It was a wonderful dream, but keeping a shop and trying to carve in volume stopped being a dream I might actually do …
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