oodcarvers` Association - James River Woodcarvers

1st Thursday of each month
6:00 PM Meeting time
James River Woodcarvers'
Association
http://www.jrcarvers.com
Nov 2013
Pumpkin House Carving
Wayne & Kathy helped all carve pumpkin houses out for cottonwood bark.
First, check the end grain and remove
any loose bark. Draw a line in the middle of the bark end. Draw in the roof
line, second roof line under the other,
and a base line. On the end, draw in the
chimney area. Next, cut in the roof,
chimney and undercut the roof line a
lot. Round the body, undercut the roof
line more if needed. Mark the pumpkin
face and drill holes to mark it on the
back. Carve out the back, and then carve
out the face. Clean up all cuts. Carve in
the pumpkin lines with a “V” gouge.
Carve in roof lines, base rocks & chimney stones. Make deep cuts to show dee
shadows. Seal the carvings and bring it
next month.
President’s Corner By Wayne Thornton
November is here already, James River
Wood Carvers. I am writing this early
because our newsletter person, Betsy
Mack, is taking a three week cruise. She
isn’t even getting a break from the
newsletter as she is putting it together
early. We hope you have a great safe
time.
October’s Thursday night meeting was
well attended. People came in from:
Petersburg, Hanover, Blackstone,
Mathews, Louisa, Chesterfield and
James City to carve a pumpkin house. I
wish we had had more participants. I
found out there is more than one way to
carve cottonwood bark. Kathy Overcash
outlines her houses with a V tool whereas I use a big Mora carving knife. I just
don’t have it in me to dig my carefully,
painstakingly, sharpened V tool into the
hard crust of that bark. Either way
works; everyone had their pumpkin
houses shaped by the end of the night.
One thing about cottonwood bark is you
can go crazy with the detail. I hope to
see some of the finished houses at the
next meeting in November. I think I will
finish mine at the carving retreat. Who am I
kidding? They are too much fun to carve; I’ll
finish carving it when I’m done with this column.
We are anticipating a good turnout for the carving retreat to be held in Ashland. Michael Denton has done a great job of putting this together.
He told me he has had help along the way and
I’m sure he did, but, without his dedication and
passion for this event it would not have happened. Thank you, Michael.
Kathy Overcash’s dragon house came in third
place (white ribbon) in the Cottonwood bark
carving category at the Smoky Mountain
Woodcarving Festival (http://
www.woodcarvers.com/) in Townsend, TN. It’s
hard to compare whimsy stuff with realistic
carvings. Kathy’s Elf came in first in the ornamental category and her oak leaf green man
came in first in the wood spirit category. She
will be teaching a bark house class at the
Smoky Mountain Woodcarving School next
October!!!!! Mac (owner of Smoky Mountain
Woodcarving) came up to her and asked if
she’d like to teach there. Of course, she said
yes. She just needs to pick a date.
Monday @ the State Fair
Tom, Clark, Tean, Betsy showed up for our 4
hour demo time in the Arts & Craft Tent (with
the plant show). The demo area was quite
large with tables, lights & chairs and the
weather was lovely. In the future this is where
all demos will take place and with the fair under new & permanent management, arts &
crafts might get its own tent again. The tent
was up on the hill, close to the main house.
We talked to the Super and asked for a whole
day and possibly Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
This will allow folks time to see the fair and
demo too. Everyone wants the weekends so
we will see. Monday was a little dead, but we
gave out a few brochures.
Show & Tell
S&T : Rollie, Linda, Jay,
Wayne, Tean, Clyde, Rich, Betsy
Club Stuff
Carving Blanks: Merv is adding some more blanks to
the collection (icicles, potbellied bear, shelf mice, shelf
wizard) of wood blanks for sale. The cost for these
blanks will be as priced on the bags. Price of the blanks
is the cost of wood and any printed material. If anyone
wants a particular blank cut out please contact Merv
(320-4416) or at [email protected].
For Sale: The club has JRWC club patches for sale.
They are $3 for members and $5 for non-members.
Patches will be in the file cabinet along with the carving
blanks.
Publicize Club: We are trying to publicize the availability of JRWC to existing and new carvers and have
created a club flier and card that can be handed out at
events or left in select locations for anyone interested to
pick up. If you have any ideas on how to promote club
membership, please contact Wayne Thornton, Merv
Warner or Tom Lasser.
Photos of your work: Missed the Thursday meeting?
Send photo (solid background) to Kathy & Betsy to get
them into the newsletter & web site. No cropping & big
as possible is best.
Club Officers 2013 - 2014
President
–
Wayne Thornton
Vice President
–
Tom Lasser
Treasurer
–
Fern Frost
Workshop Chairman –
Linda Garthaffner
Program Chairman
Fran Hazelwood
–
Carving Competition Chairman – Tom Lasser
Newsletter Editor
-
Betsy Mack
Website Manager
-
Kathy Overcash
Event/Demo Coordinator —
Michael Denton
Membership Dues: Dues ($15 / year) can be given to
Fern Frost.
Thursday Carving: For those carvers arriving first on
Thursday, please help set up the tables and chairs if they
are not already set up. The tables are located in the closet
across the hall. We meet at 11:45 to set up the tables and
go to lunch at 12:00. All are welcome to come join us; we
are back by 1:00 for carving. 1:00PM to 4:00PM.
Nametags: Please remember to wear your nametags at
all club functions. This will help new members and
those with poor memories like mine to get to know each
other better.
Saturday Workshops: Held at Woodcraft on the 3rd Saturday of each month. Members: $5 minimum + cost of materials. Non-members: $20 minimum + material cost.
Please register before attending a Saturday workshop as
space & blanks maybe limited. Linda 539-8399.
Show and Tell: Each month at our Thursday night
meeting (1st Thursday of the month) we have show and
tell of work you have recently completed. Bring it in
and at the end of “show & tell “we draw from the participants for a $10 gift card to the Woodcraft store
(9862 West Broad Street).
Newsletter Entries: If you have a tip to share or a newsletter entry (250 words and no embedded photos; send photos separately as attachments) . Please send to
[email protected] for publication in a future newsletter.
Must be received by 22nd of each month
1st Thursday Programs and 3rd Saturday Workshops
6:00-6:30pm Business Meeting
Start 9:00am , Break for lunch,
6:30pm Program or Start workshop
End ~ 3:00pm
November: Inverse relief carving
November: Elf
December: Party
December: NA
JRW Carvers
5451 Spotslee Circle
Mechanicsville, VA 23111
Stamp
Here
NEXT CLUB MEETING
THURSDAY Nov 7
Events, For Sale & Other Things
For Sale: Cottonwood Bark - Kathy
Overcash has a supply of cottonwood bark for
sale. She also has a supply of glued up whimsical
house blanks available. She can be contacted during Thursday club meetings or by email at
[email protected].
Upcoming Demos & Shows
Nov 9: Join the James River Woodcarvers
as they car pool to Warsaw, Virginia to hike
through Tom Roads' Trail of Fantasy Faces.
Tom's trail features 70+ faces carved in living trees. We will be leaving promptly at
9:00 AM from Woodcraft and returning
about 4:00 PM. Dress according to the
weather and wear a comfortable walking
shoes. Pack a picnic lunch and snacks. For
more information, see Fran Hazelwood
December 5: Holiday Party @ Woodcraft during
regular meeting time 6pm .Eat 6:30pm . Suggestions for food are by last name.
A-H: Desert;
I-O: Appetizers ;
P-Z: Heavy hor-d’oeuvres
We don’t want to run out of food, nor do we
want only desserts. I changed the order for some
variety this year.
December 7: Montpelier Christmas Sale: 9-4pm,
Inside, profits donated to the Spay & Neuter Clinic.
Space $50. Share a space with Betsy & Linda and
save money. Only try to sell things under $50 and
you well do OK. Contact Betsy. Cost divided by all.
Feb 21-23, 2014: Charlotte Showcase. New
categories: Chip Carving , Shore Birds & Cottonwood Bark. Changes: Show theme: Cartoon Caricatures. Cash Award Category: Caricatures, Bark carving, Birds & Santa. charlottewoodcarvers.com
We hope to send a few folks down for this, so get
started. Box it up & someone will take it with them
Ray Deyo offers a 10% discount
to club members on our meeting night only. You must show
your membership card to be eligible