My New Addiction, "Wood Carvers"

We took cable vision tv out of our house last February and we have not missed anything except repetitive negative fear news.  As a pastime we have youtube and Netflix hooked up.  The documentaries on Netflix are really educational and it is no secret I love outdoor series like Wild Alaska and my latest addiction Master Carvers by Pioneer Log Homes.

If you have ever carved wood you can relate to the conversation of these master carvers of log art.  I first carved wood at the Helderberg Workshop as an assistant teacher to a wood carver. My teacher, Dick lived in New Baltimore and served on the county commision in Ravena, and in the summer he taught wood carving to children at the HW.  Our three kids went there to learn sundry organic activities for many summers, I went along as an assistant to be near them.

Being an artist I enjoy venturing into any area of art and wood was fascinating.  I did cut myself quite a few times but with practice I became pretty good.  Learning to carve wood takes patience, all art takes patience to learn.  Dick carved Rip Van Winkle, Gnomes, walking sticks with animal heads or Indian designs and he spoke of the wood speaking to you.  As I begin to find my own pieces of wood to carve I saw the wood does speak to you.  It tells you what it wants to become and suddenly the design pops out ot your eyes and you carve. I carved a few walking sticks and I have a couple of Dick's walking sticks too.  One walking stick I carved I gave as a wedding gift to a friend and her husband, they both liked to hike.  In the divorce he told her she could have everything, he just wanted that walking stick I carved! (The head of the stick was a groom wearing a black tuxedo and top hat.)

And like all art when you make a mistake or a wood knot shows up as you carve into the wood only to find it destroys your original idea if you continue to work with it even the mistake can become a masterpiece. Art is like that, very forgiving and when you let your imagination fly with confidence that it will work out, it does in time.

Combining my love of natural media, wood, the art of carving animals especially wolf, bear, moose, eagle, this new series has become an addiction I love!  The finished pieces make me appreciate the talent, the creativity, the years of practice to become a master, so much it moves my spirit with such joy.  Art.  I love it.

Now I'm putting into the universe I want a full size carved male moose with beautiful antlers for my front yard. And let's not forget the rustic big log gazebo fire pit, be still my heart!

Thankful to find such great shows as "Master Carvers." I always wanted to see how these were made and now everyone can on Netflix.