Monday, August 15, 2016

Toto we're not in Kansas anymore...


Scarecrow handcarved by Jim Hiser (2016)
...true but we were in East Berlin, PA!!!

Just got back from a weekend hosted by Jim Hiser and the Conewago Carvers with renowned instructor Chris Hammack.  Me and the Rochester gang took his 2-day Caricature class that was held in the East Berlin Community Center.

It was our first visit to this venue and I could tell from our host that this would be worth the almost 6 hour drive.  Jim does a great job of facilitating and supporting the instructor and students with ample communication and direction.  Jim is also a recent inductee into the Caricature Carvers of America(CCA) organization.  A well deserved honor (see his 2nd Best of Show carving in the CCA competition in 2015).

Jim has carved himself a little niche with his wonderful scarecrows that utilize a Chris Lubkemannesque technique for generating the required straw (see image).  These whimsical scarecrows are a great demonstration of movement and you can see the pride and skill in each piece.

As for the class,  Mr. Hammack has, as expected, outdone himself as his varied and constantly changing roughouts provide an elevated challenge for the caricature carver and as demonstrated by his Barflies great interest has followed.  Chris is a patient and knowledgable instructor and should you get the chance to spend time with him,  it is money well spent.  Chris and the whole flock of CCA members will be attending this year's Artistry in Wood show that will be held Labor Day in Wilmington, Oh.  Each of the members will be displaying some of their works. 

As far as future classes in East Berlin go...Jim states that he will have a handle on 2017 classes in early November.  To register you can either keep on eye on copies of Chip Chats or visit http://www.conewagocarvers.com/  (Note: the facility is well lit and ample power is provided...overall a perfect setting for letting the chips fly)

Well this class has got my carving juices flowing...what are you doing to keep the chips flying?
 

10 comments:

  1. Had a great time in East Berlin! Thanks so much for the tips and helping out the newbies. It was fun and informative.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Karla, it was great meeting you. Look forward to carving with y'all in the future!

      Delete
  2. This is my first time i visit here and I found so many interesting stuff in your blog especially it's discussion, thank you. 먹튀폴리스

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is also a very good post which I really enjoyed reading. It is not every day that I have the possibility to see something like this.. 토토커뮤니티

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's late finding this act. At least, it's a thing to be familiar with that there are such events exist. I agree with your Blog and I will be back to inspect it more in the future so please keep up your act. 토토커뮤니티

    ReplyDelete
  5. I must admit that your post is really interesting. I have spent a lot of my spare time reading your content. Thank you a lot! 토토커뮤니티

    ReplyDelete
  6. vacuum bomb ukraine Your site is truly cool and this is an extraordinary moving article.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ukraine Nice blog. Found this while searching through

    ReplyDelete
  8. ukraine news This is truly an practical and pleasant information for all. Thanks for sharing this to us and more power

    ReplyDelete