Hello again,
Lots of things happened here at Derrymore lately. Some things that I could honestly do without!
Firstly my chronic illnesses have been playing up, initially with an arthritis flare up, which lasted for about a week. As I am riddled with arthritis this wasn't very pleasant and honestly something that I hadn't previously experienced before. Usually I have a variety of problems and issues to deal with when I have a flare up. However this time it was totally on the arthritis, covering all the different parts of my body.
Having thought I was getting over the worst of it, the weather changed again and I couldn't concentrate, with my head feeling like wool!!!
This is the horrible part of chronic illness, feeling OK in the body but unable to concentrate enough to put sentences together or think well enough to complete a task no matter how easy it may be.
Even though I was feeling terrible with pain all over my body & unwell with symptoms, I was still able do some carving and enjoy the brief string of sunshine laden winter days.
Carving is very much a zone out time for me - Sitting outside, listening to a good audio book & removing wood bit by bit with a chisel.
So, what have I done? Well....
Firstly, I managed to finish sanding the rocking horses and wrens in preparation for painting.
I have also recently finished them off completely, with adding tails, hooks & ribbon, then sealing with waxing for the finish.
They are now available from my store.
The wrens were also sanded and details added using the pyrography tool for the finer details.
And they have had their first coat or base coat of paint. They are now waiting for some warmer weather, so I can sit & paint in my workshop without freezing.
One of the gum leaf shaped dishes has also had a touch of paint on the leaves & now waiting for finishing.
I really enjoy carving these Eucalyptus leaf dishes. I think it is because they have the fast removal of the dish area and then the relief carved areas together. Without having a great deal of sanding to be done once carved. Also a lot of the sanding can be done mechanically rather than by hand which is a help.
I have done several leaf dishes now, all with different depictions of Eucalyptus leaves, flowers, and nuts done in relief carving. Another thing I enjoyed was being able to try a different design with each one. I was able to sketch directly onto the wood then carve it straight away.
Most of the time I am not very competent at drawing from memory but these are something I can actually draw!
If you are interested in purchasing one please feel free to contact me.
The magpies that have been patiently waiting for their wings to be carved were done.
And even detailed with the pyrography tool.
I use the pyrography tool to burn away some of the tiny hairy bits that just won't come off by using sand paper. And also to burn small line indentations instead of carving them with a chisel. Once painted, you only see the indentations not the burnt area. You do have to be wary about changing the texture of the wood though. As if it is burnt too much the surrounding area will look different. To overcome some of this problem, I have hand sanded the burnt problematic area a little to blend it together somewhat.
Now they also need to be painted before I can mount them.
I have also carved a wren plaque. It did start life out as something else totally different in my head, but when I picked up the blank shape I decided to carve more of a 3D bird instead of a flat one in a tray.
I have never made anything like this before so it will be interesting to see where it goes. I was thinking of making a keyrack out of it. Only time will tell in this though !!!
Just the other day, I tried out an idea I had about making a kinetic sculpture. To my surprise I actually did make my first moving sculpture!
The Galah is the handle off a spoon that broke whilst carving the scoop area. As the carved bird was too good to throw away, I decided to keep going with it and try to find a use for it later.
This particular kinetic sculpture still needs some refining, one of which is to finish painting the galah. But do I have some ideas bouncing around in my head in regards to this project!
Well, I think that's about enough for now.
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Keep on creating
