LIFE PHASE WOODSPIRIT
Recently I made a trip to my boyhood home in Central Kansas and picked up some bark from a tree that was quite old sixty years ago. It was hit by lightening a few times because it was the tallest thing around. On another thread Forrest ask me what I was going to carve in it because I had told him that the bark from the old tree was sort of special to me. Several things have come together that have influenced the carving that finally emerged from the old tree's bark. One was Dave's posting of the Great Spirit Prayer on the memorial thread honoring White Cree and the other was probably the fact that my next show is at Washungah Days where the people of the Kaw Nation, and other Native Americans, gather yearly at Council Grove, Kansas. As special as the bark from the old tree is, I will probably take it to the show because I do have some more bark from the tree and it would be a thrill if a Native American liked it well enough to buy it!Read comments about the Life Phase Spirit in the National Woodcarving magazine - "Woodcarving Illustrated". Scroll down to Cottonwood.
http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/forum/f38/life-phase-spirit-17797/
At the time of this posting, there are 2 pages of Comments.
My last comment on page 2 should get some pretty good responses.
NEWSPAPER EDITOR
Someone once told me never to get into an agument with someone that buys their ink by the gallon. Well, this little Newspaper Editor carving and I have had a running agument from the time I removed the his first chip! First, I said that he was too stiff and board-like. He said that if he stood any other way that he would not stand up without falling over. I said that I was going to cut off his legs and attach them at a different angle so he didn't stand so straight and like a board anyway. He said that now due to the angle of his legs, a gap was left that would have to be filled and everyone would be able to see it. Next, I said that his arm was not at the angle that it should be and that I was going to saw it off and reattach it. He became indignant and said that he sure was not going to stand on his own now due to the shift in the center of his gravity. As his final agument he said that now I had really done it and by making all the changes that I had made, I had put on too much paint to cover all the changes and filler etc. Also so that he was too glossy. I told him that I would let the folks on the message board decide!During this running argument with the editor I carved a Kansas Woodspirit.He didn't say a word...what a relief.
Read the Comments in the Woodcarving Illustrated.
http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/forum/f38/whatcha-carvin-14852/index12.html
http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/forum/f38/whatcha-carvin-14852/index12.html
Scroll down to Cottonwood.
