FOUNDWOOD CARVINGS

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Saturday, August 24, 2013

FARMER'S MARKET WOOD SPIRIT

I had seen it for weeks as I walked by the parking lot where the Farmer’s Market is held.

It was an odd looking piece of wood that had probably been used to block a wheel of a trailer or used for some other common need at the Farmer’s Market. I tried to ignore it each day as I would pass by but I couldn’t help myself from visualizing a face carved in this old chunk of wood. It was dirty and sandy and I had my work clothes on, a white shirt that day with a tie, so I resisted the urge to pick it up and examine it further. And that was my relationship with this old chunk of wood for days.

Then one day as I was walking by, my eyes automatically fell to the place that I knew where the chunk of wood would be. It was a Monday after a week end Farmer’s Market and the chunk of wood was no longer there. I was haunted with the fact that possibly I had missed the opportunity to put some life in this neglected piece of wood and now it would be too late because it is gone. A week went by and I had almost forgotten about this chunk of wood that had occupied my mind for several days until just after a later Farmer’s Market, almost in the same place, the piece of wood reappeared. An unexplained joy welled up inside of me as my eyes fell upon this familiar chunk and for some reason I stopped and picked it up to really examine it to see if it could be used to carve a face. Picking it up I immediately could tell from the heaviness of the wood and its rough texture that it was hard as a rock, so I dropped it to the ground with what would have been the carving face on the bottom and started to leave. And then I heard it . . . a Spirit of a Long Dead Tree was calling out to me. “Free me!” It was a pitiful and pathetic little interior voice that I heard and once again it implored . . . “Free Me!” Startled, I replied “I can’t free you. Your wood is too hard and it would take too much carving and besides all my tools are ground for soft wood like bass wood, and pine and butternut.” With that I resolutely walked away. The next day I decided rather than to be confronted with a voice from a tree spirit I would take an alternate route and by-pass this chunk of wood all together. But the very next day, I couldn’t help myself but take the old route and walk past this chunk of wood that I had developed this relationship with, all be it not particularly pleasant to me. As I walked by the chunk, once again I heard the voice of the wood spirit cry out . . .

“Free Me!” I started to indignantly reply, “I told you that” and then noticed that someone in a passing car was looking at me with the same expression as one would have when observing a person playing an air guitar along with a boom box. I hurriedly walked on and didn’t indulge my urge to respond to this plea from the wood spirit. I was able to do this for several days and then one day as I walked by, giving my customarily fleeting glance at the place where the wood spirit usually laid, I was alarmed to recognize the fact that it was no longer there. It had been moved to another spot just about ten feet away and I was more sure than ever that it had probably been used as a wheel block or something at the Farmer’s Market. Instinctively I walked over to it and noticed that through whatever use it was put through had caused a piece of the chunk to break off. Then, I heard it again. . . . “Free Me!” . . . with this addition to the petition . . . “before it’s too late.” I told myself . . . “Well, I guess it wouldn’t do any harm to at least take it home and clean it up to see if it really did have some possibilities. I picked it up and the wood spirit joyfully dribbled sand and dirt all over my clothes.

Once the wood was home I washed it thoroughly with oil soap and brushed up a good lather. That completed, the carving was started and as I feared the wood indeed was rock like. The progress was slow and I heard no more out of the wood spirit that would indicate its approval or disapproval. Now the carving is completed and from the expression the wood spirit has I think he is both surprised and horrified to find himself in this world to which he has been unveiled. Well Spirit, I have to say . . . “Be careful for what you ask. Wood can be removed but can not be put back on. So you, like the rest of us, are here to stay until we are called to something better, so let’s make the best of it.

26,712 Sat. Aug. 24, 2013
26,829 Sun. Aug. 25, 2013

Sunday, November 4, 2012

2012 SNOWMEN

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45 Snowmen were carved this year for the Christmas Season.

Santa’s Snowmen
Millard Harrell
Foundwood Carvings

In Santa’s magical world at the North Pole there are some other helpers beside the elves that are an important part of getting things done up there. These other helpers are probably nearest to what we would call robots. You see, Santa, by using a little “laying his finger aside of his nose” magic can make snowmen move, walk and do simple chores. The magic Santa works on snowmen is highly influenced by Santa’s mood and physical health. For instance, once when Santa was really hungry and he had just heard that Mrs. Claus had made some snow ice cream, his magic somehow went a little arye and he turned a couple of snowmen into “Cannibal Snowmen” that ate up the other snowmen as fast as he and the elves could make them. That of course was an unusual situation and most of Santa’s “laying his finger aside of his nose” magic works splendidly to create helpful hard working and pleasant snowmen.

The snowmen, of course, do all of their activities outside where it is always cold. Their activities range from singing outside Santa’s workshop window to keep the elves entertained to shoveling snow up in piles so Santa and the elves can later make them into other snowmen.

Although snowmen are always ice cold, they have a warm heart. Once while the snowmen were singing outside the work shop window, they noticed a baby reindeer that was getting too cold. They immediately gather around the baby reindeer to shield him from the cold wind. Although snowmen are robotic-like, they can display quite human characteristics at times.

This collection of snowmen can maybe prod, poke, tug and pull adults imagination to attribute some job or characteristic to each one of these hand carved snowmen.