A New Addition

It has been quite some time since I posted and I haven’t really worked on anything new lately. It’s not because I’m lazy or because I’m giving up carving or I just forgot. It’s because on August 19^th 2008 I became a new Papa…AGAIN! Lia Rose Muscella has been taking up all my time and I love it! She is such a good baby and our 2 year old, Angelina, is such a big helper. I now have two new carvers in the family! I will be getting back to work in the next couple of weeks. Talk to you then.

 

Madonna of the Streets

Well, I’m almost finished with my Madonna of the Streets relief. At this point I think I’m just going to clean up some spots mainly baby Jesus’ face. I just need to be careful as I’m running out of wood and am almost about to put a hole in it. I love using this basswood slice; the grain is all over the place but is teaching me so much about being aware of the direction. I hope you enjoy it!

Joe

 

 

She's all done

I finally finished my Virgin Mary woodcarving. I used sanding sealer and paste wax to finish the piece off. The five roses represent the five mysteries of the rosary. I'm getting ready to head out to my retreat...I hope everyone likes it! You can click the link to see the woodcarvingillustrated message board and check out some really beautiful works from great artists.

http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/forum/f61/carving-mary-progress-17715/

Starting over

I'm starting my Virgin Mary carving over from scratch. The original panel didn't have the cleanest joints and there were many gaps at the joints. I also decided that a full figure of Mary would be too small and did not allow for too much detail. I decided to change the pattern to a portrait style and I am much happier with how it's turning out. These pics are in the rough out stage and a lot of work needs to be done. I will use the original background design with the oval frame and roses.

Sharpening part one

To a beginner woodcarver like myself, the reason you want to get into woodcarving is to get right into a piece of wood and start chipping and carving away to create your own work of art. You want to be able to reveal what's hiding inside that block of wood. You start by removing the background and surrounding wood and eventualy you get to the fun part, carving out the details. You can get lost for hours on one project and sometimes if it wasn't for my wife yelling down to tell me to go to bed, I would carve until the next morning. Nothing can ruin this expierience more than dull tools. In order to be able to carve the wood into what you want your tools need to be razor sharp no if's and's or but's. I think of sharpening as a necessary evil. It's not fun, but you have to do it and you have to learn how to keep your tools sharp.
So how often do you have to sharpen? How do you know when it's time to sharpen? Well, what i've picked up so far is that a good rule of thumb is, every couple of hours of carving per tool you need to do some sharpening. If you can't shave the hairs off your forearm, you need to sharpen. No problem right? The best answer I heard is "you will just know when it's time to sharpen your tools". It's like the difference between shaving with a brand new razor vs. Using one that's over a week old. When I first got my Swiss Made tools I couldn't believe how easily the tools were gliding through the wood. I can actually say it was like a hot knife through butter. The only time the tools caught on the wood was if I was carving in the wrong direction. The tool left crisp clean cuts and the wood almost looked wet with a nice sheen left behind. With every stroke I could hear this beautiful sound like paper ripping or a zipping noise. Inevidably, this didn't last too long. I could see and feel that my tools were starting to loose their razor sharp polished edge. Those beautiful shiny cut marks started to look like fur and I felt myself pushing harder to get through the wood no matter in which direction I was going. OK, it's time to sharpen...sigh.
Much like the overwhelming feeling you get when you try to decide which tools to buy for the first time, sharpening is no different. There are slipstones, strops, compounds, oil stones, water stones, diamond, soft stones, hard stones, ceramic, power sharpeners (long deep breath in) just to name a few options. There are also hundreds of books, DVD's and how to's on the internet available covering this subject. Improper sharpening can ruin those expensive tools so what I did was read up on the subject and practiced on some cheap tools and knives before attempting to sharpen my good tools. It was a good thing I started out on the cheap tools because the first couple if tries I destroyed them and they will need to be reshaped and honed. But I didn't consider it a total failure because I learned something from it. Most books I've read assumes you're starting with a severely damaged or dull tool and guide you through step 1 through 1 million (ok there aren't one million steps to sharpening but it can seem that way) and fail to explain that with regular care, you may never need to use a stone. Sharpening is a progression. With a damaged tool or one that has no edge or bevel, you start with a soft stone with honing oil or water (whichever you decide to use, water or oil, you will continue to use for the life of the stone. The liquid is used to keep the metal particles from getting impacted in the stone therefore ruining the stone) or a low grit diamond sharpener. Keep the tool at about a 25 degree angle and push it away from you over and over until you form a burr along the edge then strop the burr off and move up to the next highest gritt or harder stone repeat and keep going and eventually you'll be ready for polishing. If you start with a razor sharp tool and every couple of hours of use or when you notice you're having to use more force to cut through the wood, simply polish the tool, you can maintain that razor sharp edge for as long as you don't get lazy and over work the tool. Occasionaly you will need to use a couple of strokes on and extra hard stone or high grit sharpener and you can keep the soft stones on reserve in case you drop your tools or hit a staple in the wood.
Stay tuned for part two and I will explain polishing and sharpening in more detail and show you an easy way to keep all your gouges an v tools razor sharp.

A Little Background

I haven't had a lot of time lately to work on my carving I’ve been pretty sick but getting better. I did begin to add an oval border to the background which will later be filled with 5 roses and vines representing the 5 decades of the rosary and later I'll be adding 4 lily’s to the 4 corners of the board representing the 4 mysteries of the rosary. Roses and lily’s are symbolic of the Virgin Mary so there is kind of a double meaning for the symbols. I've also thinned out the face trying to bring out the cheek bones and sink in the eye sockets a bit. As far as the face goes I think I'll only be doing some smoothing out and deburring. I hope to get a lot of the background completed tonight and tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

Signs

Here’s a Sign I lettered with my Father-in-Law also for Malvern Retreat House. He was redoing a shrine for St. Joseph the Worker and asked me to design a sign and do the lettering.
He made the panel and I got to hand cut each letter, these are some pictures of the sign in the shop and mounted on top of the shrine. I also included a picture of the Workbench/Alter we made for the inside of the shrine (I know it’s not a woodcarving but it is some really nice woodwork!). We are very proud of it and I’ll have to find some pictures of the inside of the shrine that was totally redone by my Father-in-Law.

Grapes are done

Here is the finished grape bas-relief carving. I experimented a bit with texturing the background using a Dremel tool with a detailing bit. I’m working on making some stamping tools. The instructions for making these tools are on Bill Judt’s website http://wwwoodcarver.com and more detailed instructions are in his book Relief Carving: Revelations. I don’t plan on using the Dremel method in future projects. I used sanding sealer and wax to finish the grapes, the “SSW method” also from Bill’s website.

 

 

Virgin Mary Woodcarving in progress

So I’m still working on the Virgin Mary carving for the Men of Malvern podium and it’s still going a little slow. I’m concentrating too much on one area and then finding myself having to remove more material than I was planning on. I keep on trying to shape the eyes, cheeks and mouth and then the veil sticks out too far so I have to shave that down as well, now the torso is too far out…UGH! I’m trying to achieve a look where she is looking downward so the top of her head is out further than her chin and I’m working out the proportions. The close up photo shows this a little better but once you look at the full picture you can see the chin is too wide and it doesn’t create the desired effect. I’m confident I can get it right, I think I’ll start working on the border and background and then return to the face a little refreshed. Until next time. P.S. I will soon be using a high quality camera rather than my cell phone camera.

My first commision in progress

I am a proud member of the Six-Three group of the Men of Malvern. Every year on Father's Day weekend, I make a retreat at the beautiful Saint Joseph's in the Hills retreat house located in Malvern, PA. My Father-in-Law has done a lot of work for the retreat house and is now working on a new podium for Our Lady's Chapel which he will donate and has asked me to do a relief carving of the Virgin Mary for the face of the podium! The laminated panel is made of basswood and is convex. The design will consist of Our lady with a rosary surrounding her and a decorative border of roses and vines. I am hoping to have the piece done by the end of may or early june just in time for my retreat. So far I have about 20 hours into the piece because I'm trying to get as much detail in as possible. I'm having some trouble with the eye's and there are many linenfolds I am trying to perfect. I know this may seem like a huge undertaking for a beginner, but I have been drawing and painting all my life and like W.F. Judt says in his book Relief Carving:Revelations "If you can draw it, you can carve it".
If you would like more information on Men of Malvern please visit

http://www.malvernretreat.com

My wife and daughter

This is a portrait done in relief of my wife and daughter. It's done on a piece of basswood that came with a woodcarving kit my brother Gabe got me for christmas (thanks bro) he also got me a woodburning kit that I used to highlight the hair and background. I used my swiss made tools and the detail tools that also came in the kit.

Latest work in progress

Here is my latest work in progress a classic design of grapes. I was just messing around and I had this nice piece of White Pine laying around and I wanted to test my new set of pfeil swiss made tools courtesy of my father-in-law (Thanks Dad!). I love these tools, they glide right through the wood like "budda" I suggest anyone interested in carving pick up a set of these or even just a couple gouges and v tools. They come razor sharp and polished right out of the box so as I did you can get started right away. They won't help you figure out which direction to cut the wood. I'm having a hell of a time remembering to only cut with the grain or across but not against it. You will notice a hole in the middle of the grapes, there was a grape there but I accidentily sliced it off because I was going against the grain;( I still have so much to learn but I'm having a great time doing it.

First official post!

So I guess I should start at the beginning. I've always been interested in sculptures and handmade crafts. I've been drawing since I can remember and even paint. I've never used art as a means of making a living before but have always dreamed of it. I work in the Information Technology field and I am currently employed by the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, an excellent institution if you're looking for a great school to get into.
How did I get into carving? Like I said, working with wood is something I always loved. I'm fortunate that my Father-in-Law is a cabinet maker and from time to time I get to hang out at his shop and play with power tools and learn how to build stuff. I love watching "Woodworks" on DIY with David Marks (He is the man!) It wasn't until one day in November of 2007 I was driving around in my neighborhood and saw signs for a woodcarving show coming to Penn State DELCO, I grabbed my not quite two year old daughter, the diaper bag and a stroller and went to the show. I got to see up close and personal beautiful works of art. I was blown away! There were also vendor booths setup selling all kinds of books, tools, grab bags of basswood and anything else that has to do with woodcarving. I decided I was going to buy some tools and get started. I saw the price of chisles and gouges and was immediately depressed. The prices were not what I was expecting. I was only looking to spend 20 bucks or so and that wasn't even going to get me one gouge! I started looking around some more for beginners sets but I became increasingly frustrated and overwhelmed. Should I buy knives? Should I buy chisels? Finally I got to one booth and found a Warren Cuttlerey set for $18.00. It has interchangable blades of various sizes. I also picked up a grab bag of basswood and the salesman suggested a strop and compound for polishing and a leather thumb guard. I spent about $35 and I couldn't wait to get home.
When I walked in the house I barely said hello to my wife, pulled out my tools and a piece of wood and started whittling away. I made a Santa head that turned out really nice. I also cut the hell out of my fingers and almost four months later have not regained feeling in my left middle fingertip (that finger is only good for flipping the bird anyway). I was hooked and I still am.

Here is the finished Santa Head painted in acrylic.

Welsh Lovespoon

Here is one of my first Welsh Lovespoons I made for my in-laws as a Christmas gift.
It took me about a weekend to do and I used my Warren cutlurey set to carve it out.