TexasWoodcarving.com

  Finishing the wood carving. First, I apply three coats of Enduro-Var. Enduro-Var is a water based urethane made by General Finishes. This seals the wood and provides a slight amber color. Next, I use Shaker maple tinted General Finishes water based stain to add color and depth. This is a meticulous process of brushing on and wiping off the stain to get the desired color and shading effect. The edge is stained slightly darker. The banner will overlap the edge and it will look better this way, if  seen from the side. The banner was sealed with a water based sanding sealer. Then, I applied as many coats of acrylic paint as it took to get an even black while still being able to tell that it is wood underneath. It took many coats of gold in the lettering followed by some touch-up of the black around the edges of the letters. Once the point was done, I applied three coats of General Finishes water based, clear, polyurethane top coat with a satin finish. After carefully measuring t...

  The carving of the face is completed. Here we see the refinement of the wind. With the shape just right, there is a lot of undercutting to create the strong shadows and visually separate the wind from the concave background. The undercutting is done and the background surface is cleaned up. To create the effect of a deeper, darker background once the finish is applied, the concave background is stippled. Here is a close up of the stippling effect on the background. Next up, carving the letters on the banner that will go over the carving. The lettering is done and here is the banner temporarily clamped to the carving to get a good look at how it will go together.    

 Quite a bit of work has gone into refining the face of Poseidon. For reference, the below this latest photo is one of how the same part of the carving looked at the time of the last post.  All of the progress posts for the Poseidon carving can be found at www.texaswoodcarving.com/search/label/Poseidon .

  Russell Farm Art Center in Burleson, Texas invited me to present as part of their Red Chair Lecture Series . The team at Russell Farm was very thoughtful with the setup, decorations, and refreshments. I especially liked how the stage was set up. We were blessed with an interested and engaged audience in the old hay barn which is now lit up with festive lighting. The presentation covered a variety of wood carving topics including history, tools, techniques, and the value of art created in wood. The audience asked a number of great questions during the presentation and we continued the conversation over refreshments. After everyone had a chance to get something to eat and drink, we moved to the Charlie Boren art studio. Charlie's carving studio has been preserved and is still used for some events. We spent some time there discussing tools and teaching wood carving. In the same building as the carving studio, there is an exhibit of Charlie Boren's wood carving. Charlie was know...

  Jody Webb brought a banjo he made to class. All the parts are custom made down to the hand carved tuning pegs. In addition to making such a beautiful instrument, Jody serenaded us during class.        

 Shaping things up on the Poseidon carving. We are getting close to refinement and details.

  A quick updated on the Poseidon carving. Continuing to rough out the face and surrounding forms.