Friday, November 16, 2012

A friend's request...



Da Grump #1
   I was surprised the other day by a request from a friend I made while at the Renegade in the spring.  A friend had crafted his toolbox in such a way that he could collect corner carvings from friends and instructors and attach them to his box.  A pretty interesting idea.  Well I was flattered when I received a note from him requesting a carving for his box.
  Now as you can tell from this blog my job has taken over quite a bit of my free time leaving me little time for carving.  This though was one request I could not pass up. 
  I have noticed over time as I developed my style that I tend to not do many smiling carvings as I find the neutral or grumpy expressions to be more expressive.  This is not to say I won't carve a happy or smiling figure its just that these offer something different, maybe its just another level of detail.  Either way I have found these to be attractive and as I am one to take what the wood offers me these just keep cropping up.  As such I decided to give a name to these original carvings and will refer to them as "Da Grumps".  My friend will be receiving the first of these.
  I had brought this one to my recent club meeting and passed it around for others to view and found it passed the litmus test by obtaining the chuckles and grins I like to see.  If you are a carver I urge you to try these expressive types as it can be magical when you can sell the expressions throughout the whole face.  I look forward to producing many more.