TexasWoodcarving.com

Brandant Robinson of the The Old Stump blog posted a primer on demystifying wood grain . It provides a good overview of a subject that I know a number of carvers struggle with. Have a look and let me know what you think and be sure to thank Brandant  for his efforts.

Doug Oliver sent along the following photos he took on a visit to the  Armstrong Browning Library on the Baylor University  campus. I think fine art in a place of learning can inspire the student. Thanks, Doug.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 2011 Rhapsody in Wood Show & Sell put on by the  North Texas Wood Carvers Guild . I saw some great carvings, turnings, wood burnings and scroll saw work. The best part, however, was visiting with some very fine individuals. If you attended the show, let me know what you thought. If not, and you happen to be in the North Texas area on the first weekend of March 2012, I'd love to see you at the next Rhapsody in Wood show.

Ricky Smith is one of my talented woodcarving students. He is currently working on a carving of a blacksmith. He provided some photos of his progress and I thought I'd share them with you all. I think these pictures show a nice progression through the rough out stage into starting the detail work. I'm eager to see it continue to develop and hopefully we will have more pictures of the blacksmith to share in the future.

Some readers of this site may remember my post about ultra high resolution images of masterpieces from the Uffizi Gallery . Well, Google has taken this idea to the next level with their Google Art Project . The site lets you explore famous museums and zoom in on the details of many works. You can see close up the fantastic details in a painting like The Ambassadors . Following are a few videos that give you an idea of what you can see and do at Google Art Project . Have a look and let me know if you think this will be an aid to your art creation and appreciation.

I added a picture of a carving of St. Francis of Assisi to my website gallery. I made this piece some time ago and the photograph is not the best, but I do like the carving and wanted to add it to the gallery. Anyway, have a look and let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

I recently became aware that Ian Norbury's website underwent a redesign. This was an opportunity to see some of his more recent carving. If you are not familiar with the talent of Ian Norbury, you should have a look at his site. While looking at Ian's site, I found out that he has a blog at http://inorbury.blogspot.com . On his blog, he provides some great insights into the process of creating his unique carving. Check out post such as this post or this one .