The Fly Fisherman

This carving was originally slated to be gifted to my brother  for his  home office as he loves to fish.

As some of you may experience, I  could be carving Mount Rushmore out of Limburger cheese and she’d be oblivious as to ‘what’s on the bench’.

I was nearing completion when the wife walked  by and noticed the carving.  

She loved it!  She didn’t want me to paint it so the detail of the piece would not be lost (thanks for the vote of confidence…).

She was figuring out where ‘we’ would put it on the mantel when I informed her it was for my brother.

The look on her face had me back tracking and gifting it to her.

I always told her I’d gift my pieces until I reach a  higher level of experience  before I start carving for her.

Apparently I’m there…

I’ve since put glasses on the dude, put eyelets and ran line on the fishing pole, permanently affixed the fish string to the fist instead of the ‘wrap around’ you see her and I still need to tie and affix a fly to the fishing line and one or two for the hat.

Special thanks to Lynn Doughty of Out West Woodcarving for his tutorials.  I used the video's guidance for the hat and how to make it "fit", as well as carving the head separately.  

What I liked about that was it gave me the opportunity to turn the head just a touch before glueing and it made all the difference in the world.

Off to the shop to carve this dude’s clone for my brother….

Thanks for looking and any and all comments, critiques welcomed.

Have a great day all!

Golf Tournament Donated Carvings Complete

This was a point when I wondered if I bit off more than I could chew.

My grand plan was to donate (4) golf-ball-in-a-cage busts for the Memorial Youth Golf Outing..

Once I got to carving, I realized that my carving audience was about to expand.  I was concerned that I may not produce a viable product.

I pushed that out of my mind and finished the carvings as you see below.  I also donated a couple of carved golf ball faces.

The busts and cages are basswoood, treated with a mixture of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits, painted with acrylic paints finished with semi gloss polyurethane.

Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any carving critiques!

        

Donation Carvings for Memorial Golf Outing Updated (part 2)

Well, it seems to be taking a long time to finish these guys, but they are sharing knife time with a few other projects that I'll be posting soon.


What you have here are the four finished busts sitting  on their cages.


I've drilled and glued 3/8" dowel into the bottom of the busts so I have something to hold onto while I  paint.


The dowel comes in handy later as I will use the dowel again to fasten the busts to the bases.


The final picture shows the bases and busts coated in a mixture of mineral spirit and  boiled linseed oil.  I love that 'golden' aura of the part once coated.


I have also magically placed the golf balls inside the cage.

Trade secret doctrine dictate that I not divulge how I got the golf balls in there.


As you read this, the guys are gettin' all painted stuff.


A good day to all and as always, thanks for stopping by!

Carved me my first golf ball...

I've seen folks carve golf balls into faces and such and I wanted to give it a shot.

Taking the outer shell was a lot pulling that sword thing out of some rock by that knight guy.  

After a little bit of swearing, mumbling to myself, mumbling to my 3 year old and finally offering prayers to the good Lord above, the outer shell popped off!

The rubber inside is a carvers jackpot!

It cuts like butter and is flesh colored already  - well this one was.  I've heard they can be any pastel color.


The serene look on this guys face is how my golf balls feel just before I sent them careening into the woods, to sleep with the fishes, or two fairways to the left to while away its existence until someone else finds the treasure.

A few more shots below and thanks, as always, for stopping by!

  

My tool caddy

 I take my carving tools with me anywhere I go in case a small window opens up whereas I can make some chips fly.  Lunchtime at work, the park while the kids play, family get together when its time to do dishes, you get the point...

I came across a Plano tackle box that fits all I need into one case.  The top compartment fits my carving glove, wood I'm carving on, and other stuff I'm forgetting.

The bottom portion has a door that flips down with (4) totes inside that holds all my tools.

This thing is neat.  Kinda big, but neat.  I've been searching a LONG time for a portable tool storage solution and this is a definitely doable option.

Thanks for checking in!