Here is a video of me roughing out the hands on the Lia Relief. Thanks for checking out my site!

New Project...Lia

Last year I made a praying girl for my oldest daughter Angelina. I wanted to make one for my youngest daughter Lia. I started working on this. I decided to use an image of Lia rather then just a generic angel/girl. Here is what I have so far (I am only a few hours into it right now) I took a picture of Lia watching TV (It was the only way I could get her to sit still long enough for a profile picture) what I got was a 3/4 view instead of a profile so I went with it. I took a separate pic of her hands in a prying position as reference and added it the drawing. I took the picture of her hands from the wrong side but I just reversed them when I drew them out on the wood. Anyway, any critique is much appreciated. I stink at making eyes but I think these will work, I can't figure out how to do eyes the right way but oh well practice makes perfect, or as close to perfect as possible.
Thanks for looking!
Joe

Grapes part 2

The finished project. I will need to seal and wax it and figure something out for the background. I plan on making some doors that will go on either side of a wine rack that I will carve a similar pattern on. This project was just practice for the real thing. Here is the second part of my grape carving video. Thanks for checking it out.

Grapes Practice

Happy New Year! Here is a video I hope you will all enjoy. I had an old piece of white pine laying around (I don't like carving white pine at all) so i decided to try this pattern by Nora hall of grapes on it. I bought Nora Halls DVD European Woodcarving with Nora Hall Advanced and it came with the pattern she uses in the video. She makes it look like a piece of cake and finishes the whole piece in 1 hour. My video is about two and a half hours shrunk down to ten minutes and i'm not even finished. This is part 1 and I'll be recording the rest later. If you're interested in the DVD you can find it at www.norahall.com

Speaking of Nora Hall, I really hope when I'm her age I'll still be carving. Actually, i hope to reach her age. I decided to help reach my goal and I am proud to say that as of January 3rd I am a non-smoker! It has been an still is a struggle but it's something I need to do. I've been smoking for 20 years and have tried to stop many times. I really think I will succeed this time. Enjoy the video and thanks for checking out my blog!

Joe

Acanthus Clock Pics and Video

This is my version of Rolf Taraldset's Acanthus clock. I started working on it last year and posted some progress pics. In between moving to a new home and other things, I worked on this off and on over the year. This is also the first time I ever attempted to do any kind of lettering. I was nervous doing it as it was the last step and I could have really ruined the whole piece with one slip. I am happy to say that I am pleased with the results. I will try to incorporate lettering in future projects.

Below is a link for a Youtube video showng the stages. (I used some lighter music on this one based on some suggestions) As always thanks for stopping by!

Joe

My first youtube video!!!

Ladybugs on Foliage

Another one of my slow movers I'm working on. I haven't finished this one or the Acanthus clock yet as life gets in the way of my hobby. I really wanted to try a high relief/ pierced relief and play with foliage. This is about 2" high and the lowest spot (the flowers) are about 1/4" the ladybugs are about the size of a dime just to give you an idea.