Happy New Year.

I hope everyone was able to spend some quality time with their families. Time is precious as we all find out when a deadline approaches. I realized exactly one week before Christmas that I had promised to make all the Christmas gifts for the children this year. Amazingly enough I finished one carving and had three others in completed enough stages to hand out as recognizable gifts. Since than I have completed two more and by the first Saturday meeting of the year they will all be done. You have to come to the meeting to see them at Show and Tell.

That meeting is at 10 AM Saturday morning. January 7, 2012 at the Seniors Center on Cyril St in Abbotsford. Don't forget the Presidents challenge this month is any carving that you have done in the past or are working on now.

President's Challenge January and February

Enough with the turkey already! Back away from the table. Put down your fork and your carving tools and go for a walk. We all need to exercise so this month I will give you a break and a head start. The break for January's Saturday meeting all you have to do is bring a carving and you will be eligible  for the President's Challenge draw. The carving must be carved by you at some point in your career even if you had help. All other carvings are welcome to be shown. So the table should be full to the edges with all kinds of carvings.


The head start.  For the February President's Challenge carve something with a triangular block of wood for example a Mark Gargac style elf or some other face or subject like turtles on a log etc... If you don't have access to a triangular block of wood give Larry a call and he could sell you one for a reasonable price.

Have fun!

Women in Carving

Sandy Czajka 2nd Best of Show 2010

Carved by Terry Brasher

Desiree Hajny

Sandy Czajka multi talented

Sandy on web TV

Sandy's Second best of Show 2011


I want to celebrate some of the great women who carve that I have had the privilege of meeting and learning from. I hope that everyone takes inspiration from these great carvers as individuals who have been creatively inspired to carve to the best of their abilities.

OutWestWoodCarving: The Dayton Artistry In Wood Show

If you follow Lynn than here are the results for his work at the show this year. I had the privilege to attend the banquet and I watched as Lynn went to receive his award. I do believe he had a lump in his throat and a watery eye. Or was that the epoxy shining?

OutWestWoodCarving: The Dayton Artistry In Wood Show

Artistry in Wood, Dayton Ohio

Ron Ryan Award to Lynn Doughty 

Artistry in Wood 2011 under 2 inches

Best Carving Show I have ever been to. I feel like a kid in a candy store. So much to see and so little time! The Dayton Carving Club members have made me feel totally at home. There are so many talented carvers at the show who I have only ever just read about and seen via the internet. And yes it is still true I have not met a carver I did not like. Lynn Doughty won some nice blue ribbons for his carvings and than they presented him with the Ron Ryan Award at the banquet. He was visibly moved. I just think it was time for him to join those elite people who have given so much of themselves for this wonderful hobby. It could never be a job in my eyes even if I made money at it. Joaney wait till I show you what I got at this show!  To check out more about the Dayton Show and Club with Pictures of last years winners go to http://www.daytoncarvers.com/daytoncarvers.html .

Katsina Dolls

Hopi Katsina, Heard Museum, Phoenix Az

It is real inspirational to go somewhere and see someone else's culture and carving. These photos don't even begin to show the skill and talent that went into these carvings. I read three books on the subject of Katsina dolls while in Arizona and I feel like I had a five minute exposure to the subject. I don't have a desire to make my own Katsina carving but between these carvings and all the other sculptures in many different mediums we saw while on vacation it has inspired me in my own work. Enjoy. Don't forget to carve a hand or a pair of hands doing or to doing something for the Christmas party challenge.

Hopi Katsinam, Heard Museum, Phoenix Az

Vacation Carving

Visited the Western Whittlers of Tucson Arizona while on holiday and enjoyed a few hours of carving and camaraderie. It was a wonderful visit and I got more carving done in those few hours than on the rest of my holidays. Our Saturday meeting is soon upon us and if you have not started your four by four inch carving you only have a few days to go. Here are a few pictures from Arizona courtesy of the Western Whittlers to inspire you. These are five by five inch square replicas of the American State quarters. Not all of the states are there yet but a fine start for sure.

For those of you who like to carve spoons the Whittlers are also setting a fine example to follow. Note the exquisitely carved ivory spoon on the lower right corner of the case.

December Presidents Challenge: Hands

For December carve a hand or hands any size any style doing something. 

Relief Carving

This month the presidents Challenge is to carve a 4" x 4" relief carving. This can be anything that fits in a 4 inch cube. The subject and wood is your choice and you have until the Saturday meeting in November. Some have already started so go go go.

Around the Lake

Around the Lake Give'r Take 30 www.aroundthelakegivertake30.ca is a 30 km run around Cultus Lake, British Columbia. This is a very tough endurance run with lots of hill climbing and descending . Each year I carve a walking stick for the top male and female finishers. I used to run but my knees won't allow it any more so I cycle. 7850 km this year and counting. I get a real charge out of carving something for a runner and going to the race brings back lots of memories. I hope it is a great race again this year and that it is very competitive. The grapes are almost ripe!

Shaving Horse 's

Before you reach for a straight razor and head for the corral read on. I spoke with a club member about using a shaving horse to make walking sticks. He mentioned he was going to build a fancy one with some plans from Lee Valley Tools. I replied that I had some other plans of wooden horses in my files at home. I promised to bring them to the next meeting. In the mean time I looked up shaving horse on the internet and turned up some interesting things. Check out http://bloodandsawdust.com for some interesting reading. Another site with more on shaving horses is http://www.greenwoodworking.com . When I think of all the sticks that I have done with only a knife and some carving tools it makes me want to build a shaving horse real soon to save on some of the work.

The Picnic

Six members got together for some food and enjoyable conversation at Roger's clubhouse. It was nice and cool inside. The clubhouse faces east so while it was very hot outside we were quite comfortable inside. The food was quite good and the company was great as well. We finished up with pie and ice cream and were out in time to enjoy the sun set.  While you're looking around here check out Lynn O, Doughty's blog at outwestwoodcarving.blogspot.com/ . Lynn has done some fine work in the last while. He has set the bar higher each time. I'm excited about his recent work Road Agent and The Dog Soldier. To see these carvings and the start of the latest video series on how to carve a mexican eating spicy food click on the link and you can start to learn along. Lynn starts with the head in the first video. Lynn has well over 100 videos on Vimeo. There is a lot of free learning there. 

And so the year begins.

Well the first meeting of the year is behind us and I think it went well. We were down staged to the pool hall again this year but we still had a good turnout for the meeting. There were some great carvings to look at and admire. Larry showed us some great footage and gave some practical tips on sharpening. I think the key is to find a system that works for you and practice till you get it right. I learned a few things that I will be trying myself to see if I can get that razor edge a little sharper.

Don't forget to whittle or grind up a Christmas ornament for the October meeting.  Here are some samples  of things members have carved before. The second picture is Pete Leclair's portable sharpener. I got a little nervous at the suggestion to put a drill in your lap and sharpen with one hand. Maybe she had nothing to lose but I have seen small POWER tools run amuk. Ouch! Explain that to the emergency room people.

www.jordanstraker.com

Need I say more. Check it out he was a member of our club and this is his latest marvel. Way to go Jordan! You motivate us. He is on Facebook as well stop by and say hello.

Portable Sharpener?

Our first meeting should be a good one and you won't want to miss it. Besides the usual business and a show and tell we have a sharpening demo and display plus discussion and questions happening in the second half of the meeting. It has been a few years since we ventured near this topic so we figure with all the new members it should be interesting. There are so many new and improved ways to do things.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Central Fraser Valley Wood Carvers blog. We hope you enjoy what you see and read here. It will be all about carving and club activities. The Executive have met and some decisions were made to get the year off to a running start. We have to keep juggling our knives and day jobs so if we forget things we'll blame it on some... I digress. This year is promising to be an exciting year at least we were excited to be getting started again and some of us have not put our knives down all summer. The first meeting of the year is schedule for Saturday, September 10, 2011, 10 AM. The location is the same as last year, the seniors centre on Cyril St in Abbotsford. There is also a picnic in the works for Sunday the 11th. More to follow on that later.